Cheney School Board will invite small number of in-district candidates to apply for retiring Larry Keller's position, foregoing a full search for now
By BECKY THOMAS
Staff Reporter
The Cheney School Board chose last week to look inward to hire the district's next superintendent.
While the current and previous superintendents were both chosen from a pool of candidates after an open application process, this time the board will invite one or more current Cheney School District employees to apply for the position. The method is called a successor strategy, and district consultant Les Portner—who will work with the board through the hiring process—said it's becoming more common for districts to seek to promote from within.
The board voted unanimously at a special meeting Feb. 15 to use the successor strategy. The meeting was preceded by a work session in which board members discussed the qualities they'd like to see in the next superintendent of the 380 square mile school district serving 3,855 children.
While some board members shared their desire to reward the good work of qualified district employees with the chance to promote to the district's highest level of leadership, several also expressed a desire to have a backup plan, to open the position to a full open application process should the selected in-district candidates not work out as the board had hoped.
“I'm leaning toward the successor process because I think we do have qualified candidates in our district,” board member Rick Mount said. “But like everybody else, I don't want to be locked into that process, because it's important to hear from everybody, to hear from our community as far as what they think we need.”
The board will host a community forum March 6 to gather public comment on what citizens want in the next superintendent (see the West Plains Briefs on page 1 for detailed information on the forum).
During the work session, Portner described some options for the board as it begins the hiring process following Superintendent Larry Keller's retirement announcement earlier this month. Keller will stay on through June, which Portner said gave the board plenty of time to complete any process they might choose.
Portner noted that there are no state or federal statutes regulating the hiring of public school superintendents, and the board does not have a policy delineating the superintendent hiring process, so the board was free to change from its previous method.
“The hiring of the superintendent, besides being one of the most important functions of the board, is a function solely of the board,” he said. “No one else in the district can hire the superintendent but the board.”
Portner said the board could simply appoint a replacement superintendent with no input from district staff or the community. Or, on the other end of the spectrum, the board could conduct a full search as it has done in the past. The successor process, he said, was in between those two options.
“There's one or more candidates within your district that are qualified, meet the information that you have and that you're interested in,” he said, adding that the board would assume that person was interested in the job.
“At your invitation, your candidate can be invited to apply, or candidates,” Portner continued. “But it's not the same as (saying), ‘We're going to open it up inside the district.'”
Only candidates who were invited to apply would be interviewed. After the interview process, Portner said the board could either announce their selection or widen the pool by accepting other applications.
In the regular meeting, all of the board members expressed their support for the successor strategy.
“I would like our qualified staff to believe that this board can and is willing to look within the organization,” board vice president Larry Haskell said. “If we're that good, we're that good because of the people that are within the organization. If we're that strong, we're that strong because of the people that are within the organization. So I would be reluctant to foreclose the option of looking within.
“It is not a cost decision,” Haskell added. “I think it's a testament to the board's faith in who we have. Let's look here first.”
Board member Marcie Estrellado said the successor strategy was fiscally responsible, since a full search would likely require the hiring of another consultant. In 2008, when the board conducted a full search that culminated in Keller's hiring, a consultant was paid $1,441.30, according to district finance director Brian Aiken.
The work session revealed several priorities the board had in mind for the next superintendent, highlighted by the ability to work with and understand the state and federal governments and to provide long-term vision for the district. Other desired qualities included the ability to communicate with the communities within the district, classroom teaching experience and collaborative bargaining experience. The board agreed to require the new superintendent to live inside the district boundaries as well as to possess a superintendent certificate. Experience as a superintendent would not be required.
The community has the opportunity to add to the list of desired qualities for the next Cheney schools superintendent by attending the forum March 6.
Becky Thomas can be reached at [email protected].
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