Jessica Bickford, a longtime special education teacher and administrator, will serve as the next superintendent of the Pembroke and Deerfield School Districts, SAU executive board chair Kerri Dean announced Tuesday.

Bickford is currently the SAU’s assistant superintendent and will succeed Patty Sherman, who is retiring at the end of the school year after more than a decade at the helm.

“I’m elated; I’m very excited to get to work,” Bickford said in an interview Tuesday. “I love these towns and this district, and I’m very passionate ab out just making this the best place for our kids that we can possibly make it.”

Bickford will serve alongside Jack Finley as co-superintendent in the SAU. Bickford will be responsible for Pembroke and Deerfield, while Finley is responsible for Allenstown, Chichester and Epsom.

Dean, the SAU executive chair, said that Bickford was selected because of her insider knowledge. She has worked in the SAU since 2022. Bickford beat out the other finalist, Hudson superintendent Daniel Moulis.

“The main thing for us was just [Bickford] knowing the district, knowing the people in the district, learning from [Sherman] good things and bad things – things that she wants to change eventually,” Dean said. “I think the only apprehension we had was losing her in her current position because she’s so good at what she does.”

Prior to working as an administrator in the SAU, Bickford served as a special education teacher and administrator in the Pittsfield schools for more than a decade.

Bickford, a farmer and national-level barrel racer, studied agriculture in college and had initially planned to move out to Wyoming and run a ranch.

Her plans changed, however, when she met her husband and moved to New Hampshire.

She had previously worked as a camp counselor, and when she needed a temporary job, Bickford found one as a paraprofessional.

“It was supposed to just be for a couple months until I could find a veterinary office job, and that few months turned into a lifelong career,” Bickford said during a final-round interview on Monday. “I ended up falling in love with working in public schools. I loved working with kids with disabilities.”

Bickford ultimately progressed from teacher to administrator because she wanted more say over how the special education program ran.

She said she had a vision of becoming a superintendent one day, but she didn’t know the opportunity would come so soon.

“That was kind of a surprise, but I felt like it was a natural next step to take,” she said. “I think my ability to make a larger impact on a bigger community and bigger scale is ultimately my end goal.”

Bickford assumes leadership of two school communities in periods of transition.

Pembroke eliminated 27 positions last year after voters rejected a budget increase. In addition to the superintendent, the longtime headmaster of the high school announced he would leave at the end of this year, and the middle school principal left last summer after just one year.

Deerfield is grappling with how to proceed on high school choice after voters rejected continuing a longstanding agreement with Concord in 2023.

Bickford said her top priority as superintendent will be to restore and strengthen relationships with both communities.

“I think we’ve taken some steps in the right direction, but I think there’s more that can be done,” she said.

Bickford said she also plans to prioritize literacy education, which she believes could reduce special education costs in the long term.

“I think if we put more resources and time and effort into overhauling our reading instruction and making sure that was quality, we in the long term would reduce our special education costs,” Bickford said.

Jeremy Margolis can be contacted at jmargolis@cmonitor.com.