Couple will lead schools for one year

By Mary Carey
Staff Writer

Published on June 20, 2008

An Amherst couple that shares interim superintendent positions is taking a one-year post in the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District, but as a result is backing away from a plan to serve in Greenfield.

Alton Sprague and Helen Vivian will succeed outgoing superintendent Jere Hochman for one year. The married couple had been in the job market for an interim position and the Amherst district was the first one to come up with an acceptable contract, Sprague said.

He said they had reached a verbal agreement with Greenfield. "We told everyone, however, that whoever had a contract first that we would sign, that's where we would go."

They will be paid $67,500 each in Amherst, for a total of $135,000 a year.

Hochman recently accepted the superintendent position in the Bedford Central School district, in Westchester County, N.Y., where he begins July 1.

"The Vivian/Sprague team really seemed to understand what we need in an interim superintendent - keep the trains running, keep communications open with the community, keep moving forward on our existing goals, and set things up well for the permanent superintendent next year," Amherst School Committee Chairman Andrew Churchill said in an email message.

"Having a team of two experienced superintendents is a bonus - they each bring their areas of expertise, and they can support each other in what is often said to be a lonely position. And as Amherst residents, they know what they're getting into," he said.

It is the third position Sprague and Vivian have shared. They began in Lee in 2001, and later served in the Union 28 district, which includes Wendell, New Salem, Erving, Shutesbury and Leverett.

Vivian, 71, has been a superintendent in Orange. Sprague, 69, has been superintendent in Westfield, Athol and Clarksburg.

Between them they have 90 years of educational experience, 25 of them as superintendents, Sprague said.

Vivian has lived in Amherst since 1974 and has two grown children who went through the school system. Sprague has lived in Amherst since they were married in 1996.

They have also taught classes for teachers who want to be principals and superintendents at American International College, in Springfield, and worked for National Evaluation Systems, a test-writing service in Hadley.

Sprague said they would overlap with Hochman, with whom they planned to meet with this week. Their starting date is July 1 and any days they work before then will be paid per diem, he said.

"These new positions are always exciting and Amherst has got such a fine reputation," Sprague said.

He and Vivian work as a sort of tag team, he said, with her concentrating on the financial and elementary schools and he on the upper grades, for example.

"The district will get more than one full-time person, although neither one of us works full-time. We've had opportunities to work full-time, but it's a difficult job and sharing it makes it workable for us."

Mary Carey can be reached at mary.carey@att.net.