WOBURN - School Committee member Patricia Chisholm challenged the necessity of the ongoing superintendent search last night after again insisting that Assistant Superintendent Mark Donovan should be tapped as the district's new leader.

In an unanimous vote, the school board voted to have a hiring consultant attend their Dec. 10 meeting, where the School Committee will apparently consider whether to abandon the search process and hire an internal candidate.

According to Chisholm, she considers the search process for a new superintendent a waste of time and money, especially given the need to replace retiring WMHS Principal Robert Norton and veteran WMHS Assistant Principal Brian Shaughnessy.

Chisholm further argued that if the School Committee waits until April to name Batchelder's successor, and ultimately hires Donovan to fill the position, there will be little time to find an adequate candidate to fill the assistant superintendent post.

"I've heard a lot of things from people about us wasting our time and money," said the School Committee member. "I know it's our big important job, but I don't think we'll find anybody better [than Donovan]."

"Come May, we may be looking for an assistant superintendent. Who are we going to get then?" Chisholm later argued.

Mike Gilbert, of the Mass. Association of School Committees (MASC), has been retained for $8,500 to help find a replacement for retiring Superintendent Dr. Carl Batchelder.

The MASC consultant has scheduled a myriad of meetings with educators, city officials, and local parents in order to establish criteria for narrowing down the initial batch of applications for the superintendency.

He had planned to present his findings to the School Committee for their approval on Jan. 5. Advertisements for the vacancy would then be placed in an education magazine and on two Internet job sites.

According to School Committee Chair Joseph Crowley, who has been a proponent for a more involved search process, Gilbert has agreed to tear-up his contract, if he is notified before Jan. 5 that his services aren't needed.

"He has told me that up until Jan. 5, there would be no charge to the committee if we decide to take that route," said Crowley of abandoning the search and hiring an internal candidate.

School Committee member Dr. John Wells later voiced his opposition to abandoning the larger search, as he believed that $8,500 was a small amount to pay considering the importance of the superintendency.

According to Wells, while Donovan may ultimately be chosen to lead the district, the School Committee would be selling the city short if it didn't conduct a broader search for Batchelder's replacement.

"We may be a little short-sighted if we say $8,500 is the be all and end all for keeping someone in-house," Wells said. "It's really our duty to get the best candidate we can. He could be sitting in this room. But he may not be."

"I know we say we can't judge someone we don't know. But we know what we have in front of us. We could have someone come in and sell us a whole bag of goods," Chisholm responded.

School Committee member Chris Kisiel advocated for continuing the process, especially since Gilbert was gathering important input from the community about what qualities are needed in Woburn's next school leader.

"I do think we should continue with that and go as far as we can. If there's a wave for a certain way, then it would behoove us to go that route," said Kisiel.