Superintendent Search Community Input Meetings End Successfully

… My Family; I’d almost forgotten what they look like… 

The series of public meetings for community input for the APS superintendent search have now concluded. We are now in the process of pulling together our community’s input and forming a cohesive interview criterion of the qualifications and characteristics everyone has suggested they want in our next superintendent of Albuquerque Public Schools. This process is almost as daunting as attending all of those meetings! We have some help from Research and Polling and will submit our report to the school board in a few weeks. Regardless of the amount of work ahead… this is an exciting process!

I was cruising the internet this afternoon and came across an article published and copyrighted by the Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB) that has some interesting information. (I only mention the published and copyrighted part so I can actually use it legally, here.)

What I find most interesting about it is that it talks about the right things to do and things a school board, the community, and the media should avoid in order to have appropriate roles when making a selection as well as (potentially) better success in finding, matching, and hiring a new superintendent.

I have watched members of our school board go to great lengths to take information from our community. They decided to create (my) a committee to gather public input. They’ve also created a 27 member superintendent search committee and went to great lengths to have appropriate community representation on this committee. They’ve hired a reputable search firm. They have a sense of urgency but, at the same time, want to do this lil’ thing called, “Superintendent Search” correctly and effectively.  So, even it if takes a little longer and gets behind deadline, they are committed to their process and will, hopefully, not make any knee-jerk reactions in the hiring process.

I hope everyone reads through the suggestions below and takes them to heart regarding this entire process. I hope the media is reading this and stops all the sensational reporting and works with the board so we, a.) don’t lose any candidates; b.) don’t create a popularity contest; c.) allow the board and the committee to do their jobs and not impede that process through sensational journalism. I hope the community can gain some level of trust that the board is taking every measure to involve our community appropriately AND will make the best possible decision. I hope to God that it actually pans out because we can’t have another Brad Allison or poor pick or bad-fit.

The one thing I can say is, “They really are listening and paying attention to our community.” I know this from the inside looking out and I’m as skeptical as they come (from a parent/community member perspective) when it comes to trusting our board of education collectively. I really, really hope that certain “special interest groups” don’t try to take over the process because they, a.) want to split the district; b.) are still mad about something that happened two days/weeks/months/years/decades ago; c.) just can’t get over their own “specialness” to see that this is about ALL kids.

We heard some really great stuff from concerned people within our community. We heard some great ideas, appropriate concerns, heartfelt hopes, thoughtful priorities, and a desire for positive change. This was uplifting and positive and I came away from each meeting with a deeper respect of and love for the diversity within our community.  Man, we’ve really got some great people working for APS… I met teachers, principals, custodians, EA’s, a lunch-lady, Special Ed teachers, administrators, and, I’ve gotta tell ya; they were fantastic!  And to my Venti, Soy, Latte’ buddy… you bet I’ll be by to talk with you… as soon as I can.  :)  I really enjoyed our conversations both within this process and after.  Some of the most interesting conversations were had either before or after the meetings.  I wish more parents would get out and meet their teachers, principals, etc… they are simply some of the most dedicated, wonderful human beings to walk this earth.

The one thing that really disappointed me was the low turn-out. But… never mind that… we put it out there, it was in the media, throughout the schools, printed on flyers, on the website, here on this blog, on other blogs, and talked about throughout our community. For those who attended: THANK YOU! Ya’ll ROCK! For those who did not… I just don’t want to hear you complaining about a danged thing when it comes down to it. Mmm…K?

And now we are on to the interview criteria and selection process. I’m just going to keep saying… “I hope…” when I preface anything in regards to our superintendent search. Hope is all we have today… And very soon we may actually have the opportunity to swivel on this pivot and create something different.

Before I leave you with the IASB article, I give you one of my favorite quotes:

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

Albert Einstein

Indeed, dear Sir; indeed.

(Here is the link to the IASB website.)

Here is the article:

HIRING A NEW SUPERINTENDENT–SOME APPROPRIATE ROLES

There are appropriate roles for citizens and news media in the hiring of a new school district superintendent. There also are some inappropriate roles that can make selection of a new superintendent a school board nightmare.

The problems arise when: interest groups publicly demand to interview candidates for the job and to express their opinions as to who should be hired, and/or the identities of candidates are leaked to the news media. The first problem is sure to discourage serious candidates and likely to result in a mismatch between the superintendent and the school board. (If the board expects the new superintendent to be accountable to the board, then the board must do the hiring, not the teachers union, business community or local television station.)

The second problem creates embarrassment for candidates who had been getting along fine with their current employers and is likely to result in withdrawals, not to mention a reduced pool of candidates the next time that school board goes looking for a superintendent.

To prevent such situations from arising, a school board that is about to launch a superintendent search must clearly establish its role as the employer. School boards are elected to represent the public, and one of their most important jobs is to employ a superintendent. Interviewing finalists and selecting the one who best meets the school district’s needs is the job of the school board. Activities that are appropriate to an election have no place in the selection of an educational leader for the school district.

It is not appropriate, for example, for a school board to present candidates to the public and make a selection on the basis of a popularity poll. News media representatives who advocate public forums evaluating candidates confuse election campaigns with the employment process.

By the same token, news media representatives who treat candidates for the superintendency like public celebrities create a reputation for their school districts that discourages successful administrators from becoming candidates.

To accommodate those eager for involvement and preclude unreasonable demands, the school board should establish procedures for ascertaining the views of the community in establishing qualifications and standards for the superintendency.

There are many ways to seek these views, including surveys, committees, public hearings, and just generally listening to what people say they would like in a new superintendent. Newspapers and broadcast media can play a key role by encouraging interested people to speak up and publicizing different points of view as to what the district needs.

However, public discussion of what the district needs in a superintendent must come long before the pool of applicants is narrowed down to a few finalists. Identifying desired qualifications and characteristics should be an initial step, for this information plays an important part of the board’s advertising to solicit candidates. During the final stages of the selection process, there probably are key persons in any community that a prospective superintendent might want or need to meet.

Matching a superintendent with a community is usually a two-way sales situation, so the community must sell itself to the candidate as well as vice versa. A school board might arrange for two or three finalists to meet key school-community leaders.

A school board might also provide a public explanation of the consequences of inappropriate procedures. A mismatch between the job and the person ultimately hired results when candidates receive a distorted picture of who the employer is. And when news reporters use personal contacts to learn the identities of candidates for the superintendency and publicize their names and their current employers, candidates become leery of applying for the job–including perhaps the very one who would have been best for the district.

Some employing school boards are aware that their superintendents are pursuing other jobs, some are not. School boards usually must promise anonymity to candidates or advise candidates from the outset that anonymity cannot be guaranteed. School boards that cannot guarantee anonymity will receive fewer applications and have fewer candidates from which to choose a new superintendent. A school board that promises anonymity and doesn’t deliver it sends an unpleasant message that reaches prospective candidates everywhere.

School boards, community leaders and news media should work together in their appropriate roles in seeking the very best educational leader for their schools.