The state has appointed a new receiver for the Paul A. Dever Elementary School: former Boston Public Schools commissioner and Boston Latin School headmaster Michael Contompasis.
The long-struggling Dever is a Level 5 underperforming school on Columbia Point that has been in state-mandated receivership for years. Contompasis replaces Jeffrey Riley, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, who, in turn, had just replaced temporary receiver Tommy Chang, who stepped down as superintendent of the public school system earlier this year.
In a letter announcing the appointment, Riley said Contompasis “will work closely alongside” the Dever’s principal, Todd Fishburn. “I am confident in their combined ability to build upon the progress Dever has already made and address student’s needs,” Riley wrote.
The Dever has had a rocky few years in receivership, with the K1-5 school currently in its fourth year of Level 5 turnaround.