ADAMS — Berkshire Arts and Technology Public Charter School has begun a national search for a permanent executive director, and its interim leader says he intends to apply for the position.

The school, which presently has an enrollment of 355 students grades six through 12, has been led by interim executive director Jonathan Igoe since August 2023. Igoe was originally appointed for two years by the school’s board of trustees, but agreed to serve a third year at the board’s request.

Now, the board has retained Carney, Sandoe & Associates, an academic recruiting and consulting firm, to run a nationwide search. The role was advertised on BerkshireJobs.com last month.

BART Public Charter School students wait to be admitted inside on the first day of school in August. The school has an enrollment of 355 students from across the region, with most coming from Pittsfield.

Igoe said he is “excited and eager” to apply for the full-time position.

“It’s been an incredible experience,” Igoe said. “The students here are absolutely amazing. We have an incredibly strong faculty. And the school is really headed in such a great direction under [principal] Joe Huston’s leadership.”

In an email, board of trustees Chairman Thomas Bernard said board member Gina Puc is chairing the search committee.

Founded in 2004, BART is the county’s sole charter school, operating at the corner of Center and Commercial streets in downtown Adams. While the school draws its middle and high school enrollment from across the county, state data shows 161 students — a little less than half of the student body — are from Pittsfield.

According to the job posting, the school has a student-to-teacher ratio of 9.4 to 1 and a budget of $9 million.

In the posting, the school said it is “at a critical point in its development. While the arts and technology have been and will remain central aspects of BART’s culture and identity, these commitments increasingly are part of a larger context of a strong core academic program.”

BART Public Charter School students head to class from the school's auditorium after getting their schedules on the first day of school in August. The school has advertised for a full-time executive director.

The posting also alludes to enrollment challenges facing all of the county’s schools. “A key focus for the next leader will be to drive strategic enrollment and outreach initiatives to attract and retain students, overcoming local demographic trends, specifically the overall decline in the school-age population,” it says.

Challenges facing the school, the posting says, include maintaining academic rigor and meeting the needs of an academically and socio-economically diverse student population. The candidate should have experience in academic leadership, analyzing data to identify needed improvements, managing finances and fundraising.

The salary range is listed between $155,000 and $180,000, based on factors including experience, educational background and expertise.