The Shrewsbury School Committee’s search for a superintendent to replace Superintendent Joseph Sawyer as he retires at the end of the school year is nearing its conclusion.
Sawyer, who has served as superintendent for nearly two decades, announced his plans to retire at the end of June 2026 during a school committee meeting in Oct. 8. The district received 30 applications to be his replacement.
The committee’s search has now been narrowed down to four candidates, all with varied experience in the school administration sector. Those candidates are Todd Bazydlo, Reuben Duncan, Tiffany Ostrander and David Thomson, the Shrewsbury School Committee announced during a meeting on Feb. 11.
Each candidate will get the chance to spend a day touring the school district, visiting schools and meeting students, parents and faculty. These visitations will occur on Feb. 24, 26, 27 and March 2, though the schedule for each candidate has not been announced.
Community members will have the opportunity to provide feedback to the school committee and voice their experience with each candidate through an online form available after their visit, according to Boucher. The resumes for each of the candidates are also available online at the Shrewsbury School Committee’s official website.
“The applicants were very strong. We received a lot of very strong applications that had a wide range of experiences and backgrounds,” School Committee Chair Erin Boucher told MassLive. “The consensus was to bring these four individuals forward.”
The committee plans to come to a final decision on the next Shrewsbury superintendent after deliberating on March 18. The next superintendent’s tenure will begin on July 1, according to Boucher.
Boucher said the transition marks a significant leadership change for the district, which serves thousands of students from kindergarten through grade 12.
“[Sawyer] has been our superintendent for 17 years and been in the district for 29 years in various roles. So he will be greatly missed. He’s left a great legacy,” she said.
During his retirement announcement, Sawyer said that he was not retiring from work but that it was the right time “both professionally and personally to make that career change.”
“I also believe this is a good time to do this kind of leadership transition – we have both strategic and financial stability,” he said in October. “I have an enormous amount of trust in the School Committee to run a professional search and make a decision about who my successor will be.”
Boucher concluded that the next superintendent would be inheriting a financially stable school district and that their first big project would be the proposed expansion of Shrewsbury High School, for which the Shrewsbury High School Building Committee was established in May 2025.
Here are the 4 candidates
Below are short profiles for each of the candidates, based on resumes provided by the Shrewsbury School Committee.
Todd Bazydlo
Bazydlo currently serves as principal of Shrewsbury High School, the district’s largest school, a position he has held since 2011. Prior to being principal, he served as assistant principal at the high school since 2005. Before coming to Shrewsbury, Bazydlo worked at Taunton High School as a history teacher and coach.
His experience includes supervising administrative teams, guiding curriculum and assessment practices, and supporting districtwide initiatives related to student wellness, safety and college and career readiness.
Reuben Duncan
Duncan has served as superintendent of the Jaffrey-Rindge Cooperative School District in New Hampshire since July 2015. He previously served as assistant superintendent of schools in Keene, New Hampshire, from 2012 to 2015.
Duncan’s career also includes previous service as a principal and assistant principal, with experience in school operations, budgeting, staff supervision and systems-based school improvement. Duncan was named New Hampshire Superintendent of the Year in 2023, according to The Keene Sentinel.
Tiffany Ostrander
Ostander currently serves as principal of Calvin Coolidge School in Shrewsbury. She previously served as assistant principal at Floral Street School in Shrewsbury and as assistant principal of data and instruction at Eastlawn Elementary School in Burlington, North Carolina.
Earlier in her career, she was a classroom teacher for grades 2 to 4 at Sylvan Elementary School in Snow Camp, North Carolina.
Her district leadership experience includes service on superintendent search, redistricting and school building committees, as well as leadership roles during COVID-19 reopening planning and districtwide curriculum, assessment and instructional initiatives.
David Thomson
Thomson currently has been serving as interim superintendent of Wilmington Public Schools for the 2025/26 school year. He previously held another interim superintendent role in Mashpee from 2024 to 2025 and was superintendent in Norwood from 2017 to 2024.
His leadership background also includes service as assistant superintendent for curriculum, assessment, technology and English learner programs in the Blackstone-Millville Regional School District, according to his resume.
