The Hopkinton School Committee chose Cathy MacLeod, the assistant superintendent in Easton, as the district’s next superintendent Wednesday night , taking a chance on a candidate who lacks experience as the head of a school system but who, members said, has the right combination of skills to become something special.

“There is not a task she can’t complete, she is tenacious,” chairwoman Nancy Alvarez Burdick said. “They are all great candidates, but to move several years out, I’d like to be able to say we took a chance and chose someone who will be outstanding. . . I don’t want to miss out on her.”