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Board gets homework assignment for superintendent search
USD 235 Board of Education members have homework due Monday.
The board met in a preliminary meeting Tuesday with an external search advisory group to begin the first step in the search for a superintendent.
Board President Matt Wood asked fellow board members to meet again Monday to bring ideas for a community focus group. That group will contribute input for the new superintendent search, Wood said.
Board members were also asked to recommend qualifications the next superintendent needs to have.
The external search advisory group that is assisting is comprised of Dr. Howard Smith, dean of Pittsburg State University's College of Education, Bart Swartz, director of administrative services at the Southeast Kansas Education Service Center (SKESC) at Greenbush and Steve Parsons, education consultant also with SKESC.
"Basically our understanding of this evening is to present an organizational approach to the selection process," Smith said.
The most critical piece is determining the position to be filled, whether it will be two positions or one, he said.
Currently, the district has a superintendent and principal. The district could also have a superintendent or any other type of combination.
After that decision, the board must decide who determines the qualifications of a potential superintendent candidate.
"We've done it a number of ways," Smith said. "We met with focus groups to weigh in on what they would like to see in the next superintendent. That would involve staff and students, so you know what people are thinking."
From all input, a vacancy announcement and application for the position would be built, Smith said.
The external search advisory group would then take the qualifications and build a guide to score potential candidates, then give the board their expert opinion of what the team thinks of each applicant in a closed session, Smith said.
Following the screening of applicants, the external search advisory group will discern, then tell the board of education whether, in their opinion, the candidate wants to come to Uniontown or is trying to get away from an issue in their district, Smith said.
Timeline
He said asked the board to decide when it wants to make a selection, then work backwards to develop a timeline.
Typically, superintendent selections are made from mid January to February, he said.
A superintendent search will be a different pool of candidates from the combined roles of a superintendent/principal search, Smith said.
"You want to have at least a good four weeks for people to find the application, get their materials gathered," Smith said.
"I think there will be a first wave of hirings that will occur in that January hiring window," Parsons said.
Applications are due the end of December to allow applicants to create and get all their application together, he said.
"In January it's a matter of how quickly you can get that screening and interview process done. Then there will be ripples out from that. Someone in an existing superintendent position will come to this one, then there is another vacancy."
Once potential candidates are identified, the finalists will be brought to Uniontown.
"We'll have them interview with you, and probably visit the schools and have the opportunity to interact with students and faculty so you can see them in that role," Smith said.
The external search advisory group will produce a compensation analysis for the board, Smith said.
The external search group has homework as well.
Smith said they will be gathering information about salaries with similar districts.
He suggested the advisory group meet with the board again Monday.
Smith said he would like to meet with community members who will help in the search process the first week in December.
"Staff in each facility... and if there is any kind of community group or advisory group," Smith said. "Sometimes it's been the parents in PTOs and booster clubs -- they are actually engaged in the schools -- to get some feedback."
The information given would then be taken by the board of education and compared with the budget and long-term plans of the board, Wood said.
Qualifications
"I've been doing this 30 years. There are six basic questions," Smith said. "What are the professional qualifications? What kind of education, experience and background? A second question is what kind of personal qualifications would you like to see?"
Smith listed three common qualifications.
"They want someone that is visible (in the community)," Smith said. "One (quality) is they want a strong communicator. Another is they want them to be able to build strong interpersonal relationships. Those are attributes of strong leaders."
Other questions to be answered by a search committee are what are the strengths of the school system and what are the challenges?
"People will call and want to know why the position is vacant," Smith said. "And they are going to want to know what the challenges are. It's best for them to know before they get here.
"You are going to get a lot of quality candidates on paper, but the key is that fit."
Finances
Finances are a critical issue, board member Daniel Johns said.
A superintendent versus a superintendent and principal combination will have different costs.
"We need to look at the costs of that," Johns said.
It is a balancing issue, Smith said.
"Budgets are like at home," Smith said. "Sometimes I can buy more but I give up over here on something. It depends on what you are giving up. There is no simple answer.
"We can tell you according to size, what the other districts' staffing pattern costs are."