The nationwide search is on for a superintendent for the St. Louis Public School District.
In April ProAct, a Milwaukee-based firm that specializes in recruiting for urban areas, was selected by the Special Administrative Board to head the superintendent search along with a community committee headed by SAB member Melanie Adams.
Representatives from ProAct Search hosted two forums this week to gather community input on the search.
“Right now, we’re recruiting on the fact that the (appointed) board will be here for three more years,” Nancy Noeske, president of ProAct, said referring to the state Board of Education’s decision to extend its control over the ailing district until June 30, 2011.
Representatives from ProAct said it is using a combination of phone calls, recruitment letters, community input, and newspaper and website advertisements to get the word out about the position.
The firm will bring in 20 to 30 potential candidates from around the country to be screened for the position. Using input from the community, the SAB will then narrow the pool and select a superintendent.
In addition to recruiting for school districts, the firm selects candidates for private sectors, governmental agencies, foundations and not-for-profit associations.
Noeske said 60 percent of placements over ProAct’s 11-year tenure have been candidates of color.
She said the firm’s goal is to find a candidate who will be in the district for a long time.
Only a handful of people, mostly teachers and members of the elected board, attended Tuesday’s forum at Gateway Complex. A second forum was held Wednesday at Woerner Elementary.
People who did not attend the meetings can download a survey – , which will be used to screen candidate -at the district’s website (www.slps.org). Surveys are due July 3.
Claudyne Whitaker, ProAct’s senior associate, said the appointed board hopes to interview potential candidates by August 1 and make their final selection by the end of August.
Bourisaw to Cincy?
Meanwhile, Cincinnati Public Schools announced that SLPS’ outgoing superintendent Diana Bourisaw is one of four finalists in the running for the district’s new superintendent.
Bourisaw, who headed SLPS for nearly two years, will leave her post at the end of July. She made the decision to step down in February after the appointed board announced it would conduct a national search for superintendent of schools. She tendered her resignation on May 15 in a letter to the SAB, according to a statement from the district.
The appointed board has since hired longtime educator John A. Wright – who had retired in 2004, but came back to serve as interim superintendent of Normandy School District – as interim superintendent until a permanent replacement is hired in the fall.
Rick Sullivan, president and CEO of the SAB, said in a statement that Wright is being brought in over the summer to ensure a smooth transition into the new school year and the transition to a new, permanent superintendent.
The permanent superintendent will be the eighth superintendent the district has had in five years.
Adams said the appointed board is looking for a superintendent with a strong commitment to urban education and who understands the role of the appointed board.
According to a working draft – developed by the appointed board and community stakeholders – preferred candidates would have 7 to 10 years of administrative or supervisory experience at an executive level within a large, diverse organization; a doctorate degree; and certification or eligible for certification as a Missouri superintendent.
Applications for the position are due July 11.
Adams said the draft is only a starting point for the firm to begin its search.
But elected board member Peter Downs said he believes the appointed board is “not looking for a real superintendent, only an administrative assistant.”
He urged the three-member SAB to find someone with the expertise and said the criteria suggest that the SAB is “looking for someone to do what they are told.”
Meanwhile, according to Oren Shur, spokesperson for Attorney General Jeremiah “Jay” Nixon, Nixon is in support of local control of the school district.
In an emailed statement, Shur said Nixon “believes that in order to have full public support, the school board should be elected by the public and be accountable to the public.”
Nixon joins many other elected officials and civic leaders (including State Senator Maida Coleman and activist Jamala Rogers) in supporting a locally run school district.
SLPS Board Meetings
On Thursday, June 12, the SAB will hold a board meeting and work session to approve the budget for the 2008-09 fiscal year. The work session will begin at 5:30 p.m. and the board meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Both sessions are open to the public and will be held in Room 108 of the Administration Building, 801 N. 11th Street.
The next regular meeting of the elected St. Louis Board Of Education will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 17, at the Gateway School Complex Library, 1200 N. Jefferson Ave.