District shouldn’t squander opportunity with supervisor.
The search for a replacement for Wendy Miller, a departing supervisor of instructional services in the special education program, should involve parental input.
Schools Superintendent Max Riley confirmed this week that the administration will allow such participation and that is undoubtedly a good thing for the Lawrence school district and its embattled special education program.
Lawrence has a history of including the public in its key school district hirings. When Nancy Pitcher was named principal of Lawrence Middle School in May 2001, it came after a process that included a round of interviews conducted by a special committee. It consisted of the director of personnel, assistant superintendent, high school principal, middle school teachers, middle school staff and two parents of middle school students.
Likewise, when the district sought a new principal at Lawrence Intermediate School last spring, it commissioned a group of parents and staff to come up with an outline of special qualities that would be essential in a new principal. The district eventually hired Danita Ward, the former principal of the Granville Charter School in Trenton.
This type of cooperation ensures representation of all parties in making these key personnel decisions, which have direct impact on the township’s youth. The fact that the soon-to-be-vacant position is at the head of the special education department makes this partnership between parents and educators even more essential.
This particular department in Lawrence has suffered from poor communication, as documented in the school board subcommittee report this spring. Having parents and administrators work together on the new hire might be a positive step for a strained relationship.
And this leads to our second point the ideal candidate for this position should have excellent communication skills.
The district is currently reconsidering the roles and structure of the supervisor position, currently held by both Ms. Miller and Jane Bilik. While the district is clearly suffering from its communication problems, it would not be fair to rest blame solely on the shoulders of the department supervisors. Still, this is an opportunity to bring in someone qualified to confront the problem. So regardless of how the district may want to redistribute the workload and responsibilities of the supervisor position, one key job requirement should be strong leadership as it pertains to communication.