COMMENTARY ON SUPERINTENDENT SEARCHES:
KISD has never been known for conducting great superintendent searches. I've watched for thirty years, and I've not seen even one good one. KISD always hires a head hunter who is from the field of education which is it's first mistake. Out to pasture administrators are the last people who know what to look for in a superintendent! There are hundreds of good, reputable head-hunters who could bring a variety of qualified applicants for a Board to consider.
Instead, the routine is for the educator headhunter to screen out anyone who might want to try for the position if that person is not from the headhunter's stable of mediocre applicants. Then the Board is bamboozeled with hype of no consequence, no questions about the applicant are answered, and the Board is left with an impression of someone without having been told anything concrete. The Board is then told to "pick one;" there follows a visit to the prospective superintendent's home to visit family, et cetera. The pick is announced, and things go back to like they were before the Board got rid of the last superintendent.
Here is a profile for acquiring a new superintendent put out by the El Paso ISD school board recently. Recall that El Paso's last superintendent is now residing in the La Tuna Federal Penitentiary, so finding someone to take his place was not easy! After reading through the various lists it appears that some of MY suggestions have been used. Imitation, they say is the sincerest form of, you know, flattery! They best part of their list is that they actually list "academics" as something in which they are interested.
(If you wonder why I allude to EPISD every so often, it's because that's where I went to school and where I taught for 12 years. In those days EPISD was a great school district.)
EL PASO INDEPENDENT SCHOO DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT POSITION PROFILE:
El Paso Independent School District (EPISD) is seeking a superintendent to move the district forward and lead it to the next level of academic achievement. [Note the word academic!!!] With more than 64,000 students EPISD is the 10th largest district in Texas and the 61st largest district in the United States. The district is the second largest employer in El PAso with nearly 9,000 employees and has an annual operating budget of $463 million. EPISD is situated on the U. S./Mexico border and the Texas/New Mexico state line, and encompasses more than 253 square miles. The district is made up of 10 high schools, 15 middle schools, and 57 elementary schools. [Note the size of this district is almost the same as Katy ISD, and yet look at all they have in the way of programs and schools compared to KISD! I can also tell you that they haven't been spending tax dollars wastefully all those years either.]
Other campuses include an early college high school and middle school, a recovery program for students at risk of dropping out, an adult education school for GED and citizenship classes, a career and technical high school, and several magnet schools.
The student body of EPISD is 82.6% Hispanic, 10.9% White non-Hispanic, 4% African--American, 1.1% Asian, 1% multi-racial, and less than 1% American Indian. Over two thirds, 71.1 % of EPISD students are economically disadvantaged. A fourth of the students, 25.1% are English language learners. [Note that EPISD does not have all their Hispanic students in a bilingual program.] Approximately 10% of the student population are from military connected families. The majority are from families stationed at Fort Bliss, one of the largest military bases in the United States. The superintendent of EPISD will work with the seven-member elected Board of Trustees as a team in the governing and overseeing the management of the District.
The Board of Trustees has made a public commitment to provide all the students with the best education available anywhere, preparing every child to lead a rich and productive life. [Smells like KISD's Mission Statement, doesn't it?]
The EPISD Board of Trustees has adopted the following mission and goals:
EPISD Mission and Board Goals:
The mission of the El Paso Independent School District is to meet the diverse needs of all students and empower them to become successful members of a global community.
Goal 1: EPISD is respected by the El Paso community as a high quality public educational enterprise and recognized by all for its outstanding accomplishments
Goal 2: EPISD offers comparable program opportunities and services to all students.
Goal 3: EPISD is widely recognized as a historically good school district that has enjoyed strong support and close attention from the community it serves.
The district has recently experienced some difficult circumstances involving misconduct of the previous superintendent. The successful candidate must be able to work with the EPISD Board of Trustees to meet the challenges currently facing the district, build on past successes, restore the public's trust, and move the district forward. He or she must have broad leadership skills to motivate and improve schools while also serving as the primary ambassador to the public for the district and the school community. The successful candidate must bring a wide range of skills and expertise to the task of managing EPISD. A leader with extensive administrative leadership is preferred. A willingness to make a long-term commitment to EPISD is highly desirable.
The Board of Trustees will look carefully at prior experience as a superintendent of schools; however, non-traditional and less experienced candidates who can demonstrate a strong track record of leadership will also be considered. A terminal degree in the candidate's area of expertise is preferred. Once selected, the superintendent is expected to reside in El Paso County, with a preference that the superintendent reside within the EPISD boundaries. Successful candidates should possess the following qualities/skills/experiences:
A person of strong moral character and absolute integrity who is transparent and honest in his/her approach
A humble leader who inspires trust, always puts students first, and treats others with respect
A proven leader willing to listen to input, but able to make a decision and take responsibility
A person willing and able to make a long-term commitment to the District
An inclusive leader who builds sound relationships with school board personnel, who is a visible presence in the schools, and who inspired staff to become highly effective
A strong advocate for the District, who possesses highly effective communication skills and who is able to reach out to all parts of the community, work collaboratively, and develop productive and beneficial relationships
A person who has strong instructional leadership skills and experience in leading a district toward accelerated academic improvement
A person who has proven experience and a track record of success leading an organization through difficult challenges
A person who has demonstrated ability to produce results under challenging, stressful conditions
A person who works collaboratively with the Board of Trustees to recruit and retain the most highly qualified individuals
A person who is able to delegate authority appropriately
A person who has demonstrated expertise in budget, finance, and capital improvements and demonstrated the ability to work within the constraints of scare resources
A person who had demonstrated the ability to effectively use quantitative and qualitative data to make decisions
A collaborative leader who values an inclusive participatory decision making process and makes decisions after seeking input from key stakeholders, teacher, and staff.
A person who has demonstrated ability to raise academic achievement while motivating, developing and supporting a high-performing, diverse and caring team at both the central office and at the individual schools holding all accountable for improved achievement
A person able to work cooperatively with the Board of Trustees and develop a clear definition of responsibilities
A person with the ability to develop long and short term goals and priorities consistent with the District's vision
A person who has demonstrated experience and ability to develop and maintain strong relationships with the community
A person who works effectively with parents and exhibits good rapport with students
A person with a track record of working effectively within the political environment at the city, county, state and national levels
A person who has demonstrated experience in embracing and promoting diversity and working well in diverse ethnic, racial, cultural and socioeconomic communities and environments
A person who is bilingual in Spanish and English, is preferred
Application Criteria:
1. The superintendent will have seven or more years of administrative experience managing people in a leadership position
2. The superintendent will have successful experience in a divers, PreK-12 urban school district with characteristics similar to EPISD is preferred
3. The superintendent will have prior superintendent experience, however, the board is willing to consider non-traditional candidates for this position as well as up and coming talent in PreK-12 education
4. The Board of Trustees prefers candidates who are prepared to make a long-term commitment to the District
5. The Board prefers the candidate to have a valid superintendent certificate or comparable certification or endorsement [And they should have said a superintendent certificate ---period if the person is an educator and a doctorate in education. Otherwise they'll get people like Leonard Merrell and Hugh Hayes who apparently never had anything but a K-12 administrator's certificate or like Alton Frailey who doesn't have a doctorate and showed up with a "temporary" certificate because he evidently had a hard time getting a permanent certificate.
6. The Board offers a salary range comparable to similar size districts and the salary is negotiable with the Board depending on experience and qualifications
7. The Superintendent is expected to reside in El Paso County, with a preference that he or she resides within the EPISD boundaries (obviously they are becoming redundant here towards the end of the list!)
8. A terminal degree in the candidate's area of expertise is desirable.
The El Paso Independent School District encourages all qualified candidates to apply by the deadline of February 1, 2013. For more information and to apply, contact Gary Solomon, Lead Recruiter.
I think they did their homework, and I wish them success with the person they picked. I would always suggest that they look around in their own administration building first before even considering a head hunter. That's where they'll find someone who knows the district, who already has a vested interest in the schools, whose character they already know, and who won't require the salary of a Movie Star. But instead, most school boards, thinking the grass is greener elsewhere, just play "Pass the Trash" and wind up with another school district's guy who was looking to get out of Dodge.