By Charley Falkenburg, Staff Writer
MONTGOMERY Board of Education Vice President Andrea Bradley outlined the process and logistics of the current search for a new superintendent at the Jan. 10 Board of Education workshop and special session meeting at the Upper Middle School Media Center.
The Superintendent Search Process Committee and the hired consultant group Penn Center for Educational Leadership of Pennsylvania University have fleshed out a tentative framework for the hiring process of a superintendent to fill current Superintendent Earl Kim’s shoes.
Mr. Kim is leaving June 30 to move to Hawaii.
”I happen to think that the process of hiring the consultants and the work accomplished so far is very extensive, very complete and will hopefully give us the result we want which is a lot of input from the community,” said Ms. Bradley, who also heads the Process Committee.
The consultant group is expected to visit Montgomery for two days near the end of this month to meet with small focus groups. These groups will be comprised of people who represent staff, teachers, senior citizens, minority communities, municipal alliance, town officials, parents and students. Focus group members will be invited to participate by board members and by recommendation, making groups inclusive and network based.
Consultants will conduct in depth interviews with these groups. Residents will answer questions concerning aspects like the strengths and challenges of the school district. They will also answer “knowledge filled disposition” questions, which are questions about background, character and personality traits residents think the ideal superintendent should have. Results will help the consultant group narrow candidates to those who best represent the community of Montgomery.
The committee is also providing the consultants with a background context of the township to get them up to speed on their education process so they will have a context of the community’s questions and concerns.”The good news is that the consultants are really thoughtful and educated on how to do this in the best way,” Ms. Bradley said. “They are experts that will advise us how to make the process more productive and more reflective of our community.”
The board will also have an open public meeting so residents who weren’t invited to be in a focus group can come out and give their input. If residents are unable to attend the meeting, they will be able to complete an online survey, which will ask the same questions consultants will be asking the focus groups.
Ms. Bradley emphasized this community engagement aspect of the process.
”It’s really important we don’t go to the same people that always get asked to give input about Montgomery,” she said. “We need to reach deep into the community to encourage people to participate and offer input.”
Feedback from the community, board members and administration will be compiled into a profile that consultants will review with the board in a closed session at the end of February. This profile will become the specifications for the position, which will help create tools to measure the candidates and assess if they meet the projected criteria.
Ms. Bradley stressed the importance of the superintendent profile and said the board is planning to dedicate a considerable amount of time engaging the various elements of Montgomery to get the broadest feedback possible.
However, before the profile is completed the board plans to prepare a basic posting of the job and to advertise the position through the national publication Education Week and local newspapers to get the broadest draw of applicants. At the same time, consultants will use their extensive list of contacts and invite certain people to apply.
”The goal is that in early March the board will meet and review resumes of candidates and from there come up with a list of six or so candidates to bring into Montgomery for the first round of interviews in April,” Ms. Bradley said.
The board hopes to whittle this number down to two finalists in early May.
But the board is facing potential setbacks with the timing of the April elections for the school budget and board members in addition to the annual reorganization meeting. There is generally a 60-day notice period, so if they make an offer by the end of May, the new superintendent won’t start until the end of July, leaving the position vacant for a month.
The board is unable to accelerate the process due to a state law requiring the superintendent to be approved by the board members that will be serving while the individual is hired. This means the board can’t hire anyone in April in case of a turnover in board member seats in the reorganization meeting.
”We have to keep the process going, but be responsible to the community if there’s new people that run for the board and are successful,” Ms. Bradley said.
The board expects to know how many people are running and how contentious the election will be by early March, allowing them to keep candidates in the loop so they will feel informed enough to go into the final interviews in May if selected.
”It’s a bit of a juggle but we have to keep pushing forward,” said Ms. Bradley.
She emphasized that this urgency is due to the competitive nature between the many N.J. schools vying for superintendents, the limitations on salary, political issues on funding education in New Jersey and a residency requirement in New Jersey, which might hinder great potential candidates from other states.
”We need to get the word out and get people interested in Montgomery sooner, rather than later,” Ms. Bradley said.
Another element of the hiring process is a mandatory confidentiality agreement board members must sign, which restricts members from identifying candidates until they are ready to disclose their choice.
