MONTAGUE — The Gill-Montague Regional School District School Committee voted to begin the search for an interim superintendent within the next month as Superintendent Brian Beck announced his resignation, effective June 30.

Beck told the committee during a meeting Tuesday that he selected the June 30 date as it’s the last day of the fiscal year, and “the cleanest way” to end his work as superintendent.

“I will still make myself available to provide consult and support as needed in transition to a new superintendent,” Beck told the committee.

On May 13, Beck, who has served as superintendent since July 2020, announced his decision during the School Committee meeting.

When asked after the May 13 meeting if this decision was prompted by the Gill-Montague Education Association’s December 2024 vote of no confidence, Beck said he had nothing to add to what was already said in his statement to the committee, but that the decision was personal in nature.

To accommodate for the quick turnaround of 33 days to select an interim, School Committee Chair Jane Oakes said she’s started the discussion with the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) through Field Director Liz Lafond. The association offers superintendent search services to school committees across the state.

Oakes said after looking over the current superintendent searches, with many districts just finishing up their application period and others completing the search for new leadership, she suggested the committee look for an interim superintendent, then at a later date put together a screening committee for a full-time superintendent, without a short timeline for selection.

“It will give us enough time to do it thoroughly,” Oakes said about the search for a full-time superintendent. “Probably when we get ready to start that, I will ask if it’s acceptable to employ MASC to help us with that again, because they are very experienced with it.”

Oakes said that for the interim search, MASC will not charge the district a fee for its services, which also include posting a job listing on its superintendent search website.

Oakes added that in speaking with Lafond, the proposed timeline includes posting the interim job position online by Wednesday, May 28, with a deadline for applications by Saturday, June 7. The committee can then do an initial screening of candidates through a public meeting, and have an interim selected before Beck leaves at the end of June.

New Montague committee member Steve Ellis said he thinks this is the right strategy for the selection process, and there should be a plan if someone viable for the position is not found within this short timeframe.

“Do you have any sense on what their vetting really involves? Will we still need to be going through a process of beyond public interviews, but of examining references and getting them engaged?” Ellis asked.

Oakes said that would be a task done by MASC, that it has an ongoing list of available interim superintendents and retired superintendents who are interested in this type of temporary position.

Greenfield Public Schools Superintendent Karen Patenaude, whose district neighbors Gill-Montague, will also be resigning her position effective July 3, per an email to district students and families on Friday, May 23.

Plans for Patenaude’s transition are expected to be discussed during a Greenfield School Committee scheduled for Friday, May 30. The meeting agenda includes a discussion and vote on finding an interim superintendent by working with MASC.

Before starting as the Gill-Montague superintendent, Beck was principal at Hopkins Academy in Hadley. Prior to that, he had been principal of Athol High School and worked at Mohawk Trail Regional School as assistant principal and as principal.

When he was going through the hiring process at Gill-Montague, Beck stood out to the hiring committee for his record at Athol High School, understanding of restorative justice and connection to Montague as a resident, giving him a better understanding of the community compared to other candidates.

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.