March 28, 2024

New Dighton-Rehoboth Superintendent Promises Cooperation

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Dighton-Rehoboth’s new School Superintendent William Runey pledges to work more closely with town officials. Anthony Azar, who has been in the position since 2014, is retiring at the end of June.  Runey has served as the Principal of Attleboro High School for the past 10 years. Previously, he served as the Principal of Bishop Feehan High School.

Runey met with the Rehoboth Board of Selectmen Tuesday. He thanked Selectman George Solas, who had served on the Superintendent Screening Committee, for his support, as well as the members of the school committee. “They’ve entrusted me with a tremendous responsibility,” Runey said. “I think education is a resource that you can’t even really put a value on. It’s a responsibility I’ve spent my entire 34 year career devoted to. My path to becoming a Superintendent is not a traditional one. I was a private school educator for 24 years and have only been in the public sector for the last 10. Attleboro has been such a blessing to me from the standpoint of the level of preparation.”

Runey also intends to take a hands-on approach to preparing the school budget. “From what I understand, (Robert) Baxter, the business manager who just came onboard this year, is off to an outstanding start, but I have a responsibility to make sure that he is very transparent because we’re talking about people’s money. People are understandably very possessive of their finances and their property,” Runey said.

Runey was impressed by the facilities at Francis Farm, where the selectmen now hold their weekly meetings. “I look at a beautiful complex like this and I can envision our (students), whether they be the middle school (students) or the high school (students) coming out here to volunteer for community service hours, whether it be for the Council on Aging, recreation department, I just think that there’s a golden opportunity for our kids in the district,” Runey said.

A special town meeting will be held in August to allow residents to decide to withdraw K through 8 from the regional school district. “I know that the elephant in the room is that there has been de-regionalization talk,” Runey said. “I’m not here to cast stones because I don’t really know the root of it but I do want to be a part of the solution. Any meetings that I can attend, any information I can provide, there are a lot of good things that are going on in (the district’s) schools. I’d love to see that the district remain intact if at all possible.”

The last few years have been tumultuous for the district. In 2019, when the two member towns were unable to approve a budget, DESE (Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) assumed fiscal oversight of the district. DESE relinquished that control last July.

Selectman Michael Deignan acknowledged a lack of communication between the Board of Selectmen and the members of the school committee. Runey hopes there will be less fighting and more unity going forward: “I’m here to serve your residents, whether it’s 60 percent, 40 percent of a regional district, it doesn’t really matter. I have to answer to all of them. In order to be able to do that, I have to be visible, I have to be approachable and I have to be communicative. I pride myself on communication. I want to take the communication from the district to another level. I want to strengthen and build stronger partnerships.”

“I am glad that Mr. Runey has referenced our school district’s motto of Together Everyone Achieves More (T. E. A. M),” Azar said Wednesday. “Recently, I have held meetings with Mr. Runey along with my administration in order for him to gain a better understanding of the workings of a Regional School District. I look forward to continuing to work towards a smooth transition.”

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