Somersworth names Lou Goscinski interim school superintendent for upcoming school year

SOMERSWORTH − The Somersworth School Board named an interim superintendent who will serve during the upcoming school year while the fate of Lori Lane, on paid leave during an investigation, is determined.

Somersworth School Board Chairwoman Maggie Larson announced Friday that Lou Goscinski was unanimously approved to lead Somersworth schools as interim superintendent for the upcoming school year. Goscinski recently retired after serving five years as York Maine's school superintendent.

“Our school board is fortunate to have found a highly qualified superintendent in Lou," said Larson. "We are impressed by his wealth of knowledge, experience, reputation, and outstanding references. Lou is friendly and approachable. He will be a wonderful addition to Somersworth.”

Goscinski will assume his new position on July 10.

“I am grateful to the Somersworth School Board for giving me the opportunity to serve as its next superintendent,” Goscinski said. “I have done my research on the school system. I am impressed by its dedicated faculty and staff as well as the school board's commitment to the well-being of its students and employees. The school board is committed to transparency, community relations, parent involvement and the needs of students, including mental health. These are things I value.”

Goscinski noted he is very familiar with the Somersworth community having grown up in nearby Dover. He has relatives who live in the city, and he previously worked at the Strafford Learning Center in Somersworth.

Larson said Goscinski has a combined 40 years of experience in public education as a teacher, principal, special education administrator and superintendent. He served six years as superintendent for SAU #13 in New Hampshire (Freedom, Madison, Tamworth) and, most recently, completed a five-year stint as superintendent for the York School Department in Maine.

While at York, Goscinski was nominated for superintendent of the year in 2020 and again in 2022.

Former York School Committee Chairman Dave Herbein said, “During his tenure, Lou made impactful decisions that resulted in improvements to central office business functions and department operational procedures. Under Lou’s leadership, students now have access to mental health services across all schools and a stronger special education program is functioning system wide. He successfully navigated our school system through myriad challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.”

While in York, Goscinski worked with various teams on K-12 school accreditation, a curriculum audit, system-wide special education improvements, and a comprehensive assessment of its schools’ safety and security system.

Last month, the board declined to renew Lane's contract, which expires June 30, 2024. Her contract requires the board to make a decision on whether to extend her employment a year in advance. She was placed on paid administrative leave June 5 shortly after she reinstated Dana Hilliard, the school district's director of operations and the city's longtime mayor, who was placed on leave for four school days in May.

Lane and Hilliard were the subject of a complaint on March 1 from a group of principals, assistant principals and other administrators from the district's elementary, middle and high schools. An investigator was hired by the School Board to look into the complaint and found a "preponderance of evidence" shows the allegations were accurate. Subsequent letters of reprimand by School Board Chair Maggie Larson to Lane and Hilliard cited "hostile, disrespectful, unprofessional" conduct.

Larson declined to provide an update on the investigation but said it remains ongoing.

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: Somersworth NH names Lou Goscinski interim school superintendent