USD 235 board hashes out details for superintendent's job Position remains combination, qualifications, application, interview timeline set

USD 235 Board of Education members held a special meeting Monday evening with the superintendent search advisory committee they have hired.

Jan Hedges, interim superintendent, said the district is paying the advisory group $3,000 to assist in the superintendent search.

The purpose of the special meeting was to look at what similar size districts pay their administrators and then decide whether to hire a superintendent or a superintendent/principal combination.

Present at the meeting besides the board and Hedges were Jim Mason, lead teacher USD 235; Sherri Hartman, board clerk and Jackie Hall and Tammy Townsend, teacher representatives. Steve Parsons, educational consultant at the Southeast Kansas Educational Service Center was also on hand to help field questions from the board.

Comparison

Dr. Howard Smith, Pittsburg State University's Dean of the College of Education, gave a presentation of the requested statistics.

"Part of the initial challenge here is to look at and try to determine what the position might be," Smith said. "We wanted to talk about comparable (school districts), all 2A school systems."

Smith had condensed a massive report from the Kansas State Department of Education for the board, he said.

"You wanted to see how you stood administratively, so what I did...I created a column called total admin, to get a comparable," Smith said. "You see Uniontown, it shows a superintendent and 1.4 principals, so it has a 2.4 total admin."

Hedges also serves as the junior/senior high school principal combined, with Mason handling the day-to-day principal duties at the school, such as discipline. Tyler Jackman is in his first year as principal of West Bourbon Elementary School.

Smith selected schools with 400 students or more to compare.

Of the districts that have 400 students, Uniontown has the fewest administrators, he said. "That can be deceiving though," Smith said. "It's important to look at other positions where people have been put to assist with duties and responsibilities."

Most of the administrative structures evolved because somebody left the district, Smith said.

"When somebody left they looked internally and said 'who do we have that can do what?'" Smith said. "Then they reassign duties based on the strengths of the existing personnel. There is no recipe."

Most combined positions with administrators are with the elementary principal, Smith said.

"But it could be a junior/senior high principal like you had before," Smith said. "Or a stand alone as well."