SOUTHBRIDGE — So many administrators have cycled through the Southbridge school district in recent years that residents might be forgiven for needing a score card to keep up. Since 2010, seven superintendents, seven high school principals, and 10 elementary school principals have moved through the revolving door.
Many families have had enough. About 250 students — or more than 10 percent of Southbridge’s student population — have opted to attend schools in other districts this academic year, costing Southbridge $1.5 million.
The alarming leadership vacuum — as well as low test scores and a high dropout rate — led to a state takeover of the schools earlier this year.
In particular, the state found that Latino students, who make up almost half of the school’s population, were getting shortchanged in this central Massachusetts town of 17,000 near the Connecticut border.
“I have no confidence that Southbridge schools are poised for a better future,” state Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester declared in recommending the takeover in January.
Now, a state-appointed receiver, who took control of the district last week, is striving to bring a measure of continuity, stability — and eventually classroom success — that has long eluded the town.
“I think they lost sight of what’s important, and that’s the children,” said newly appointed receiver Jessica Huizenga, 40, who previously was an assistant superintendent in Cambridge, as she sat in her sparsely decorated office in the town’s old high school.
As part of her position, she will submit a three-year turnaround plan to the state in June, and has the power to hire and fire administrators and teachers. She said that at least half of the district’s teachers have three years of experience or less, and the school’s current principals have been on the job for just two years or less.
In a town hard hit by the loss of factory jobs, residents say the struggling schools are due for a makeover.
“It’s an education, but not all are being served,” said Severina Rios, a retired Southbridge teacher who was part of the first wave of Puerto Rican families to arrive in the early 1960s, following an earlier influx of Italians, Irish, and French Canadians.
They worked in factories like American Optical, which at one time employed almost 6,000 people. It closed in the 1990s.
Rios said Latinos in the town have been slow to advocate for their children.
“We have not challenged authority,” she said. But she welcomed Huizenga, a Brooklyn native, whose mother and grandmother were born in Puerto Rico.
Southbridge becomes the third district in Massachusetts to be subjected to a state takeover, after Lawrence and Holyoke. Its road to receivership has been part of a steady, two-decade decline.
In 2003, only 29 percent of its students achieved proficiency on the state’s standardized tests and the state’s Office of Educational Quality Accountability declared that the district suffered from mismanagement and an acceptance of the status quo.
The state declared Southbridge as an “underperforming” district in 2004, putting it at risk for a takeover. That same year, mold was discovered in the high school, forcing its closure for several days.
In 2005, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges placed Southbridge High School on probation because of its condition. The district built a new joint middle-high school in 2010, but the district’s academic problems continued.
In a scathing review last fall, the state said 34 percent of the students at the middle-high school failed at least one course during the previous academic year, and 19 percent were suspended at least once.
The district’s graduation rate was 63 percent, or 23 points lower than the state average, and its drop-out rate in 2014 was twice the state’s level, the review said.
The state detailed a freewheeling hiring system in which bickering School Committee members allegedly exerted their influence in personnel matters and misappropriated district funds, while middle- and high-school teachers taught without a curriculum. No criminal charges were filed against the former School Committee members.
Huizenga called the build-up of problems, capped by the high turnover, “the perfect storm.’’
“When you have seven high school principals and seven superintendents in a very, very short time, it’s hard for a staff to get momentum on any initiative,” she said.
Huizenga has moved quickly, hiring a director of social and emotional learning and a director of informational learning. She plans to add an English-language learning (ELL) director this month.
Any turnaround will take years, she said, adding that the town’s makeup adds a further layer of complication.
“We’re a suburban area, and you wouldn’t think that we have the socioeconomic and the high diverse population that we have here, so it presents urban challenges,” she said.
Joan Sullivan, president of the Southbridge teachers union, said she prefers a town-run school system rather than a receiver who does not have to adhere to the union’s collective bargaining agreement. But she called the state takeover inevitable.
Last month, in a good-will gesture, the union hosted Huizenga as its guest of honor at its spring social.
As they contend with the school overhaul, locals point to their blue-collar history with a sense of nostalgia and pride. The downtown is dotted with ornate churches, some empty storefronts, and old brick buildings. Some residents recall John F. Kennedy standing on Main Street in 1958 and delivering a Senate reelection speech, while others are looking forward to the town’s bicentennial parade this month.
“I think the schools will come back if the state is able to provide stability,” said Dick Whitney, executive director of the Optical Heritage Museum, which includes machinery from the optical factory.
But Southbridge has faced growing economic problems. In 2000, 37 percent of the students came from low-income families, but by 2014 that number had jumped to 76 percent.
The town’s unemployment rate is 7.4 percent, compared to the state’s average of 4.6 percent. And the median family income is $54,322 — $31,000 less than the state average. Just 17 percent of residents hold bachelor’s degrees or higher, according to census data.
Scott Lazo, who served on the most recent School Committee, criticized the lack of attention paid to Latino students.
“The house of cards fell on the Latinos because they never hired enough ELL teachers. It created a snowball effect in the classrooms,” he said.
But the Rev. Esteban Carrasco, chairman of the Town Council, said he believes incompetence is the root of the district’s problems.
“While the adults kept playing games, the kids were the ones who suffered,” he said.
Carrasco said he hopes the receivership will succeed, but is hedging his bets. Four of his children attend schools outside of the district.
“I did it because of the instability of the district and the leadership,” he said, adding that he didn’t want to gamble with his children’s education. “They only get one chance.”
Steven A. Rosenberg can be reached at srosenberg@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @WriteRosenberg.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the findings of a state report on problems in Southbridge schools. The report’s examination did include the most recent school committee. In addition, the story left some readers with the impression that certain former committee members moved out of town because of allegations contained in the report. No such connection was intended.