Dr. Lisa Mobley, currently principal of King Philip Regional High School in Wrentham, was officially named AMSA’s next executive director on Friday, after she agreed to contract terms with the school’s board of trustees. 

Dr. Mobley will begin her duties on July 1. She will replace Executive Director Ellen Linzey, who is retiring after four years in the position, the longest tenure in the post’s history.

“We are looking forward to working with Dr. Mobley and making the transition as smooth as possible,” said Dr. Anders Lewis, who was the longtime history department chair before serving as executive director for three years prior to Mrs. Linzey and as assistant executive director under Mrs. Linzey. 

The search for a new school leader came to an end when the BoT voted in favor of Dr. Mobley at a meeting on March 6. It came after a months-long process that initially resulted in a pool of three finalists: Dr. Mobley, AMSA Principal Mike Nawrocki, and John Fletcher. 

When Mr. Nawrocki and Mr. Fletcher stepped down as candidates in the final interview process, AMSA history teacher Jessica Bowen was introduced as an alternate finalist. Six of the eight BoT members voted in favor of Dr. Mobley, with Jill Schafer and Sowmini Sampath voting against the motion to enter into negotiations with Dr. Mobley.

“I think that AMSA, today, needs to explore a different option,” said Ms. Sampath at the time. She advocated for reopening the search.

Mrs. Bowen initially applied for the position but her application was bypassed in favor of Dr. Mobley, Mr. Nawrocki, and Mr. Fletcher. She agreed to re-enter the process when the latter two dropped out of consideration.

“I really would like to thank her [Mrs. Bowen] and recognize her desire to lead this organization from an internal perspective,” Mrs. Linzey said. 

Mrs. Bowen declined comment for the purposes of this story. 

“I think that the [hiring] process was bumpier than I would have liked to have seen, but I think that in the end, the board made the decision that they felt was the best one,” Mrs. Linzey said.

Members of the BoT, however, did not view the process as anything out of the ordinary.

“I do not think it is unusual for organizations to experience what we experienced throughout this hiring process,” BoT member Bela Gorman said. “If you follow what is going on with superintendent searches in the rest of the state it is very similar.”

Details of Dr. Mobley’s contract are unknown at this time.