The School Committee on Wednesday voted to enter into contract negotiations with Kimberly Shaver-Hood, the current superintendent of the Blackstone-Millville Regional School District.

If Shaver-Hood accepts the position, she will replace superintendent Dr. Barry Rabinovitch, whose retirement is effective July 31.

The School Committee made the decision in an approximately half-hour meeting on Wednesday, after deliberating in executive session on Tuesday. Four members of the committee voted in the affirmative for Shaver-Hood. Member Cliff Sylvia was in opposition.

The majority of the committee appreciated Shaver-Hood's experience in leading a school district with similar finances as Wareham, and was impressed by her ability to increase student achievement in her district despite its financial limitations.

Shaver-Hood is a "person who is truly committed to students, believes in being an active participant in this town, and has very high expectations of students, educators, and herself," said School Committee member Geoff Swett.

Shaver-Hood received her Bachelor's degree from Franklin College and holds a Master's degree in Education Administration from Weidner University. She is currently completing her Doctorate at Northeastern University, where she has completed all coursework and is working on her dissertation.

Reached on Wednesday evening, Shaver-Hood said: "I am honored and excited to be invited to join the Wareham School District. I am looking forward to meeting the staff, students, citizens, community, and business leaders of Wareham and working collaboratively with them for what is best for our students."

In her final interview, Shaver-Hood said she would move to Wareham if she becomes superintendent.

As an example of Shaver-Hood's previous success, Swett pointed out that both Wareham and Blackstone-Millville students were doing poorly on the 8th grade math MCAS in 2003. In Wareham, only 20% of students were receiving "advanced" or "proficient" scores, compared with 23% of students in Blackstone-Millville.

That spring, Shaver-Hood was appointed principal of the district's middle school, and currently, 62% of Blackstone-Millville's 8th-graders are scoring advanced or proficient on that exam, compared with 40% in Wareham.

Shaver-Hood has been superintendent of the district since January, 2010.

School Committee member Mike Flaherty echoed Swett's sentiments.

"She has that 'buck stops here' attitude about her," Flaherty said. "We need decisiveness. We need clarity."

Flaherty also noted: "Where she's had to cut so much, she wears so many different hats. ... She has the hands-on experience of so many different positions."

School Committee Chair Rhonda Veugen said she was impressed by the overall "theme" of Shaver-Hood's final interview, "not only the statement that we need to raise the bar in children first and that we have to hold parents, administrators, teachers, and children accountable ... but [by] the examples that she used of how she got that done in her district."

From visiting her district, Ken Fontes said he found that "she's very involved from the ground level up."

Though some committee members were previously concerned that Shaver-Hood was choosing to leave the Blackstone-Millville district because of its financial limitations, only to end up in a similar -- or worse -- situation, Veugen said it became apparent through the interview process that that was not Shaver-Hood's motivation.

"I found that it really wasn't so much about her inability to get the funding that was needed, or that that was the reason why she was leaving, ... it was that she was looking for a challenge," Veugen said. "She was looking for another district for her to be able to continue her work."

Swett noted that Shaver-Hood would have almost $2,000 more to spend per student in Wareham than in Blackstone-Millville.

The district's teachers' union, the Wareham Education Association, congratulated Shaver-Hood.

"She will find no partners more willing to advance the cause of the education of the children of Wareham than the hundreds of men and women who work with those students toward their academic achievement, day in and day out, face to face, from kindergarten through commencement," said Brian Fitzgerald, president of the Wareham Education Association. "We look forward to working with Wareham's next superintendent toward the goals the community, students, and educators of Wareham all share."

The other two finalists for the position were Dr. Elise Frangos, assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction, and assessment for the Old Rochester Regional School District and Dr. Anthony Pope, an educational consultant and former superintendent of Marlborough Public Schools.

Frangos was the runner-up, and the candidate that committee-member Sylvia supported.

"Based on a lot of factors, but primarily on what she's accomplished in Old Rochester, their test scores... I know that the demographics are different ...  but I think where she lives in Marion and has been exposed to Wareham in so many different forms ... she has a handle on Wareham. She has a handle on the problems in Wareham," Sylvia said.

The three finalists were chosen by the School Committee, after an interview committee comprised of parents, Wareham Public Schools staff, community and business leaders, the town administrator, and representatives of the Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee narrowed down the candidates to semi-finalists.

Rabinovitch, who has held the post for nearly four years, announced his retirement in December, saying that he perceived his annual evaluation, completed by the School Committee last fall, to be an "injustice."

The 2012 annual town report lists Rabinovitch's earnings at $164,051. His base salary is $147,000. What his successor will make depends on the outcome of contract negotiations.

The School Committee agreed that Veugen and Swett should begin negotiations immediately, and Veugen said she hoped to have a contract drawn up by next week.

If Shaver-Hood accepts the job, Veugen said she hopes the new superintendent would be able to start immediately following Rabinovitch's July departure, though that would depend on Shaver-Hood's obligations to her current district.