By JOSEPH FITZGERALD

BURRILLVILLE — Schools Superintendent Steven Welford will be staying in town, at least for the time being.

The North Kingstown School Committee voted 5 to 1 last week to take Welford off its list of superintendent candidates, saying he isn’t the right man for the job at this time.
The committee made its decision following site visits to Burrillville and interviews with teachers and administrators in the district.
Welford, Burrillville superintendent for the past two years, was chosen by the North Kingstown School Committee as the final candidate for the job on Dec. 19, beating out two other candidates, including Sandwich (Mass.) Schools Supt. Nancy Young and Taunton Supt. Arthur Stellar.
Even though Welford had been tabbed for the post, the School Committee withheld an offer pending site visits to Burrillville and discussions with district representatives.
Subsequently, the NK committee passed a resolution against offering Welford the job. Larry Ceresi, April Brunelle, Melvoid Benson, Lynda Avanzato and Richard Welch voted in favor; Kimberly Page cast the dissenting vote.
Committee chairman Ceresi said that although Welford was by consensus a good candidate, a majority of the board didn’t feel he would be “a good fit” for the district.
He pointed to the relative size of the two districts: 4,360 students attend North Kingstown schools, a full 70 percent more than Burrillville’s enrollment of 2,550.
The North Kingstown School Committee will now meet with the superintendent search subcommittee on Jan. 27 to decide what to do next. School officials in North Kingstown wanted to have a new superintendent on board by February. The district has been without a superintendent since Priscilla Feir left last summer.
Had Welford been offered the job, he would have received a three-year contract and an annual salary in the mid to high $130s.
Welford was hired by Burrillville in 2006 to replace Barbara A. VonVillas, who left the district halfway through the year. Welford’s appointment completed a search that lasted several months, after the committee voted not to renew the contract of VonVillas, who had been the Burrillville superintendent for seven years.
Welford, who has more than 25 years of experience in Massachusetts and New Hampshire public schools, had his contract renewed in July by a 4 to 2 vote of the School Committee.
Burrillville School Committee Chairwoman Debra Stockwell said Welford informed the committee at a policy meeting last week that he had not been offered the job, but she declined to comment further.