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Mr. C jumps into another BPS troublespot

The Dorchester Reporter reports the state has appointed BPS veteran Michael Contompasis as receiver of the Dever School on Columbia Point to try to turn around the low-ranking school.

Contompasis long served as headmaster at Boston Latin School before serving as superintendent and BPS COO. He retired, then went back to BLS as interim headmaster in 2016 after Headmaster Lynne Mooney Teta quit following the Black Lives Matter controversy there.

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Comments

My God, Michael Contompasis was at Boston Latin when I was there in 1970! He must be close to 100 by now. Couldn't BPS come up with somebody a little more relevant instead of digging up this old fossil?

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Is steady, proven competence such a bad trait? If he's got the time and energy and commitment, this seems fine. I don't have the impression that this guy is getting these gigs to pad his pension or something like a MassPort employee or something.

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lol...me too in the 80's!

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My recently graduated BLS student adored Mr. C. And I think most of the students, faculty, and staff did too.

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I had him as a teacher and liked him fine. He was reasonably fair and pretty good in the classroom. At our BLS reunion we were marveling that he's probably got a pretty good pension and yet he still shows up. Managing the politics involved in the schools must be pretty draining. The fact that he's still willing to help out when things get sticky is a pretty good indicator of his skills and dedication to education. Boston's lucky to have him.

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Someone who has long experience and is well-regarded should be viewed as a valued resource, not a "fossil". It is admirable for him to be willing to come out of what sounds like a well-deserved retirement to help when needed.

Despite what the start-up culture thinks, younger isn't necessarily better and we can learn a lot from those who have a wealth of experience.

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I can think of a long list of offensive terms that The Management would never allow get posted on this website by an anon, but denigrating old people - no problem

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Was my headmaster for my entire BLS career too. And we all fondly referred to him as Mr. C! Good to know his talents are being appreciated by many.

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That's an apt description of him. Yet, he's probably smarter, more wise and definitely more classy than you.

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Who is more relevant than Mr. C who has a proven track record of success?

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Adam, I think you've inadvertently mixed up Contompasis with John McDonough. The former was interim between Payzant and Johnson, the latter stepped up from CFO to be interim superintendent between Johnson and Chang. Not sure if Contompasis was ever CFO.

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To a Point though. He was terrifying to me as a 13 year old.

However, the much railroaded Lynn Mooney Teta, a great educator who came up through and led the City's most diverse school (economically and ethnically), is also available to turn around schools as well, or does (Can't Mention Names Because I Might Get Sued by A Former Mayoral Candidate) still have enough clout behind the scenes after sabotaging careers for his political gain?

Also to say that Lynn quit, is like saying Charles Stuart was trying out for the Olympic Diving team when a certain North Shore oriented group invited him to the stand on the railings of the Mystic River Bridge.

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He was chief operating officer under Payzant, then became interim superintendent (and then superintendent) prior to Carol Johnson's tenure.

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Thanks.

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See my earlier comment about that -- McDonough was the CFO who became interim Superintendent after Johnson left. Contompasis was the COO who became Superintendent after Payzant and before Johnson.

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