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The Cambridge School Committee voted to appoint interim superintendent David G. Murphy for the permanent role on Monday, putting an end to a search process that lasted more than a year and was marked by controversy.
One of three finalists selected for the role, Murphy was up against Lourenço Garcia, the assistant superintendent of equity and inclusion for Revere Public Schools, and Magaly Sanchez, chief family advancement officer in Boston.
School Committee Vice Chair Caroline Hunter and Mayor E. Denise Simmons voted for Sanchez in a preliminary vote, making them the only two members to not vote for Murphy.
“He does certainly have benefits, but he’s not my first choice, nor my second, and it has nothing to do with him personally,” Simmons said before making her vote.
The School Committee ultimately held a formal, unanimous vote to appoint Murphy, with Simmons abstaining.
District leadership appointed Murphy, previously CPS’ chief operations officer, as interim superintendent in July 2024, after the School Committee voted to remove his predecessor amid growing concerns about her leadership.
As the search for a permanent superintendent progressed, the School Committee received increasing amounts of backlash from both parents and teachers who felt like they had been left out of the process. The Cambridge Education Association — the union representing teachers and staff in the district — released a fierce statement in August calling for the entire search to be restarted, claiming that the process lacked transparency and public engagement.
Each School Committee member spoke about their choice during Monday’s vote, and some also addressed the controversy around the process.
“I want to reaffirm that this process holds best practices,” member José Luis Rojas Villarreal said. “At the same time, I acknowledge that we could have communicated more clearly about the legal and practical reasons that shape how this process works.”
“We have a strong, capable candidates before us,” he added. “I believe we owe it to our students to make a decision tonight, delaying the step would risk slowing their learning and growth, something we cannot afford to do.”
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During public comment, two parents spoke in favor of Murphy, praising his leadership. But several others slammed the School Committee one final time, condemning members for running a “failed” search process.
Duncan Maclaury, interim CEA president, expressed concern with how the search firm was chosen. MacLaury also mentioned the controversy around semi-finalist Adam Taylor, who received criticism for comments made in 2019, as well as Garcia, who lost more than $750,000 in a cryptocurrency scam — something the School Committee knew in August.
“A process like this that is supposed to select the executive leader for our 17 schools, 1800 staff and 7000 students, is not wonderful,” MacLaury said.
Despite the criticism against the process, two parents took the podium to pledge support for Murphy.
“He is, as far as I can tell, genuinely, profoundly, truly centering the kids in every action his administration has taken,” Anne M. Coburn, who is running for School Committee, said. “If I were on the School Committee now, I would happily vote for him. He would be a finalist in any search, no matter how well or poorly run.”
During last week’s public interviews, Murphy pledged to hold high standards for all students, improve professional development for teachers, cut inefficiencies in the budget, and target early grades to eliminate achievement gaps.
He received positive end-of-year evaluations from members of the School Committee, who commended his effectiveness as a leader and strong communication skills.
As interim, Murphy has overseen many significant changes in the district, including recommending and facilitating the closure of the Kennedy-Longfellow Elementary school in December due to declining enrollment and persistent underperformance. Murphy also oversaw the implementation of universal preschool, increased focus on teacher evaluations, and navigated changes to the math curriculum.
In a press release to the district, Murphy wrote that he is “grateful for the vote of confidence in the work our team is doing represented by tonight’s vote.”
“I am humbled by the responsibility to lead this district and will continue to do so with the best interests of our students in mind,” he added.
—Staff writer Ayaan Ahmad can be reached at ayaan.ahmad@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @AyaanAhmad2024.
—Staff writer Claire A. Michal can be reached at claire.michal@thecrimson.com.
