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New school chief’s plans upended by lack of certification

By Dean Shalhoup - Senior Staff Writer | May 14, 2022

NASHUA — Stephen Linkous, a career educator whose most recent position was chief of staff of the Kansas City, Kansas public school system, began visiting Nashua and meeting people as soon as he was hired as the district’s new superintendent of schools in February.

His selection “pleased” BOE members and others, who were “very impressed” by the man who was getting ready to begin his duties July 1.

But the sudden discovery recently that New Hampshire and Kansas have no reciprocity agreement when it comes to superintendent certifications has thrown an unexpected obstacle into Linkous’s path to the superintendent’s office.

An assumption by the search consultants who worked with the district to find Nashua’s next superintendent left the Board of Education no choice but to part ways with Linkous, find an educator to serve as interim superintendent and launch another search for the district’s permanent leader.

“The search consultants assumed there is reciprocity between Kansas and New Hampshire, (but) that assumption proved to be incorrect … “ BOE president Jen Bishop said Tuesday afternoon.

“Very unhappy,” she added, referring to board members’ reaction upon learning that Linkous, while fully qualified to lead school districts in Kansas City and those he previously served, doesn’t meet New Hampshire’s more stringent requirements.

New Hampshire, Bishop said, has “specific requirements” for certification “that go beyond a lot of other states.”

To become certified in New Hampshire, Bishop said, Linkous would need to undertake what would amount to the equivalent of an additional two-year masters degree program.

Linkous was poised to succeed interim superintendent Garth McKinney, who agreed to serve in that capacity for a year.

About a month ago, McKinney accepted an assistant superintendent position with the Milton, Massachusetts school district.

Linkous, meanwhile, was offered the superintendent job in Nashua following what school officials called “an extremely comprehensive” search that included reviewing some 3,000 leadership surveys submitted by the public.

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