WESTHAMPTON — Hampshire Regional School District’s search for a new superintendent is over after a unanimous vote to hire Judy Rush, the director of curriculum and instruction for Pittsfield Public Schools.
“Everyone thinks Judy Rush is an awesome candidate,” said Carl Schlerman, chairman of both the Hampshire Regional School Committee and the search committee tasked with vetting the 10 candidates who applied for the position. “She brings a new excitement and an energy.”
Jan Gibeau, chairwoman of the joint Chesterfield and Goshen School Committee, agreed.
“We’re excited there is someone with such knowledge but also a collaborative style,” she said of Rush. “These days that’s especially important because we’re all subject to an environment that is divisive.”
The search committee held public interviews Friday with Rush and fellow finalist Aaron Osborne, the director of finance and operations for Palmer Public Schools, in the Hampshire Regional High School auditorium. With a background in business and technology, Osborne served as a math and business teacher in schools in Gill, Montague, Greenfield and Northampton.
