EAST PROVIDENCE — Four superintendent candidates will be publicly interviewed by the School Committee tonight, beginning at 6 in City Hall.

The board is seeking a replacement for Jacqueline Forbes, who retired as schools superintendent and then took a position to lead the Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School District in Massachusetts.

Interim Schools Supt. Mario F. Cirillo, the only candidate to be named so far, has been criticized by some since he was appointed to the acting position last month.

The latest disapproval came from outgoing state Sen. Paul E. Moura. In a letter to School Committee chairwoman Mildred Morris, Moura said he believed the city was making a “grave mistake in appointing such a polarizing, controversial figure to the highest-ranking position in the School Department.”

He cited votes of no confidence in Cirillo that were made by teachers’ unions in the last district — Foster-Glocester — he worked for. The Glocester Town Council also sent a letter to the regional committee in February 2007 that called for Cirillo’s removal. The council blamed Cirillo for overspending, a drop in test scores at the elementary and regional school levels, and an increase in administrative salaries during his three-year tenure.

While Cirillo has chosen not to comment, one letter in support of him came forward late last week.

City Councilman Robert E. Cusack said he told Moura that he should have met and talked with Cirillo before writing his letter that was published by the media. The councilman spoke with Peter Negroni, a former school superintendent in Springfield, Mass., which is where Cirillo got his start 39 years ago.

Cirillo began in that district — which has 46 schools — as a middle school teacher before taking an administrative role as assistant principal. For 12 years, he also served as principal of a Blue Ribbon middle school and finished his years in Springfield as the district’s assistant superintendent. His duties there included being in charge of curriculum and instruction for the secondary schools.

“It was Peter who first promoted Mario [Cirillo] to principal and then to assistant superintendent of schools,” Cusack told The Journal. “Peter calls Mario an ‘outstanding educator,’ ‘a real leader,’ and says Mario ‘works hard.’ Peter says he has ‘tremendous respect’ for Mario and that he’d be ‘terrific’ in East Providence.”

In his letter, Cusack contests Moura’s concerns and chronicles Cirillo’s career in depth.

“And now for the other side of the story,” it began. “First, the responsibility for hiring superintendents of schools rests with the School Committee, which evaluated candidates and chose Dr. Cirillo [as the interim]. Sen. Moura’s letter prompted me to inquire into Dr. Cirillo’s background. I find that his record is one of excellence, beginning with his graduation, magna cum laude, from Springfield College … .”

He said that when Cirillo retired in Massachusetts and went to Foster-Glocester, Cirillo “found a politically charged atmosphere and a teachers’ union whose senior officials were used to getting their own way. Child-centered personnel decisions, such as reassigning a teacher to a school with increased enrollment, were met with militant opposition.”

Cusack’s letter continued, “They soon began urging his ouster, and recruited a few School Committee and Town Council members to their cause. Dr. Cirillo continued to push for change and succeeded in much despite the union hostility. As for charges of overspending, the record shows surpluses. And the lower test scores? They improved or remained constant. And administrative salary increases were standard, and limited to 2 percent per year.”

He said the opposition may have followed him to East Providence, but some should consider the sources. For example, Moura is “a full-time employee of a labor union,” Cusack wrote. “Yes, he has a right to his opinion, but let’s get the conflicts of interest out on the table. School superintendents who have the temerity to stand up to the teachers’ unions are not popular with the labor union movement. No surprise there.”

Cusack reiterates the decision lies with the School Committee, yet he said he hopes the board picks “a leader who puts the kids first and a manager who can attain standards of excellence at a cost our city can afford.”

In closing, Cusack wrote, “In the eyes of the union, Dr. Cirillo is a polarizing figure. In my eyes, he’s a welcome addition to East Providence. In my opinion, Dr. Mario Cirillo is exactly what the East Providence School Department needs.”

apina@projo.com