Dr. McComas to be Next Superintendent

Dr. Mary Boswell-McComas is bringing her decades of experience in education to Kent County Public Schools as the next superintendent.

The Kent County Board of Education ratified a contract with Dr. McComas Monday evening, June 10. Her first official day on the job will be July 1.

Dr. McComas takes the lead of the system’s five schools from retiring Superintendent Dr. Karen Couch. Dr. Couch has led Kent County Public Schools since 2013.

“I am humbled and honored to be selected to serve our children and young adults in Kent County. I am excited and look forward to the collaborative partnership with the Board of Education and the entire community of Kent County,” Dr. McComas said. “Together we will discover and generate new opportunities for the next generation of Kent County leaders, inventors, creators and artists. I believe in us!”

Joseph Goetz, president of the board, said at the June 10 meeting that they had a great slate of candidates for the superintendent position.

“But there was one candidate, Dr. McComas, you stood higher, you were bolder,” Goetz said after the contract was approved.

Dr. McComas also received warm and welcoming comments from other members of the board, Kent County Public Schools staff and community members present at the June 10 meeting.

Dr. McComas is currently the principal of Sparrows Point Middle School in Baltimore County Public Schools. She has nearly three decades of experience in public education, having started as a social studies teacher in Harford County Public Schools.

She rose through the administrative ranks in school-level and system-wide leadership roles, including serving as the chief academic officer for Baltimore County Public Schools.

Dr. McComas also served in the U.S. Army Reserves, attaining the rank of company commander, captain.

“Whether in the classroom as a teacher, chief academic officer or principal, I always keep sight of the bottom line — the children,” Dr. McComas wrote in her biography.

The search for a new superintendent here started in January, when Dr. Couch announced her plans to retirement.

The Kent County Board of Education contracted with the Maryland Association of Boards of Education to conduct the search for the next superintendent.

Applications were due in early April and three finalists were announced May 13 following initial interview rounds.

The finalists individually toured each of the schools later in May, meeting students, teachers, staff and administrators.

They interviewed with community stakeholders, the executive leadership team for the school system and again with the board.

Dr. McComas made her rounds at the schools and the central office Thursday, May 23.

To ensure transparency, the public was kept informed of the hiring process through a special section added to the Kent County Public Schools website: www.kent.k12.md.us/SuperintendentSearch.aspx.

“I want to thank all of the stakeholders that participated in the superintendent search process,” Goetz said. “The students, the staff, the teachers, the folks in the public, they were with us every step of the way.”