Classical High Principal Tapped for Deputy Superintendent Post
By Jill Ricker            The Daily Item of Lynn                                     Friday, May 14, 2004

LYNN -- Classical High School Principal William Frost was appointed deputy superintendent Thursday and will start on July 1.
    "I want to thank his honor (the mayor), the superintendent and the committee for this promotion," Frost said. "I will go at this position in the manner as all the positions I've held over the last 35 years. I have mixed emotions leaving Classical, but I just want to thank all of you."
     Frost, 57, has served as acting deputy superintendent since March while Deputy Superintendent Raymond Bastarache recovered from hip replacement surgery. Bastarache returned to his post last week. Frost will replace former Deputy Superintendent Edward Johns, who retired in January.
     Superintendent of Schools Nicholas Kostan said Frost was the only applicant for the position, and an obvious choice.
   "He has tremendous experience in the system," he said. "He's been an administrator at every level. At the high school level he has done fabulous work and he's is highly respected by the staff of the Lynn Public Schools."
    Kostan said he and Frost have worked together for 15 years, so his addition to the leadership team is a natural fit.
    "I'm very comfortable with Bill," he said. "We were a team at Breed, I was principal, he was vice principal, and we both went up to Classical at the same time, so it's been 15 years as a team. I have tremendous confidence and respect for the job that Bill does."
     Frost said he is looking forward to teaming up with Kostan again.
     "I'm pleased and proud - thrilled, actually - to be rejoining Nick, for many reasons," he said. "With the skills and the experienced I've developed with him over the last 15 years, I feel I can help move the district forward. I'm going to take the same level of work ethic and dedication as I did at Classical here."
     However Frost said leaving Classical behind will be difficult.
     "The success the school has enjoyed and the recognition the school has achieved marks this move with mixed emotion," he said. "But change is good; new challenges are good."
     Frost said his role as acting deputy superintendent has already allowed him to face some of those challenges.
    "What is difficult is seeing things from a systemic viewpoint as opposed to a building viewpoint," he said. "(As a principal) you do anything to benefit (your school) and you're not always cognizant of how that may impact other schools. When you've run a school as large and as diverse and complex as Classical, you deal with everything on a building level and so when you come down here, you have to deal with things on a larger scale. It can be eye opening."
     Kostan said Frost will work well with Bastarache.
     "I feel strongly that we've got two outstanding deputies," he said. "With both of them working together, we're going to have a very good team."
     Frost said he's glad to be a part of that team.
    "Nick has put together quite a leadership team," he said. "They are really getting things done."
     In addition to being a retired 1st lieutenant in the Army and having held the government's highest security clearance, Frost holds two master's degrees in education and recently completed his doctorate in educational leadership in two years.
    The amount of the salary for Frost's new position was unavailable at press time, but it is expected he will earn approximately $120,000 per year.