JACKSON – The Jackson School District Board of Education is seeking input from residents as it prepares to hire a new superintendent of schools. Community members are being asked to describe the qualities they would like to see in the next person who holds the top position in the district.
Superintendent of Schools Stephen Genco has announced he will retire at the end of the current school year. Genco has been the superintendent in Jackson since 2014.
“Choosing a superintendent is one of the most important decisions a board of education can make. We want to be sure we are gathering input from all across our town, not just from people here in the school district, so we can understand various perspectives and opinions,” said the board’s vice president, Sharon Dey.
The board has posted a superintendent survey on the district website at www.jacksonsd.org/superintendentsearch and has emailed the survey directly to parents and staff members. The survey is anonymous and will close on Jan. 17.
District administrators are also encouraging residents to share their thoughts via email to [email protected] or to attend any board meeting.
The next full business meeting of the board will be held at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 22 in the Jackson Memorial High School Fine Arts Auditorium. An updated meeting schedule will be posted on the board’s meeting page after the reorganization on Jan. 7.
Dey said the board members will use feedback from the community to make critical and informed evaluations of superintendent candidates over the upcoming months. The board is looking to make a final decision on a new superintendent in the spring.
“This is an incredibly important position and we have to be sure we are taking the needs of the entire community into consideration,” she said. “We have been fortunate to have strong, passionate and capable school leaders and we want to continue that tradition of excellence. The students, parents, staff and taxpayers of Jackson deserve the best.”
Dey said the board members are committed to keeping the community informed about the progress of the superintendent search.
“The feedback we get from the superintendent survey will go a long way toward helping us feel secure that we have the pulse of the people we represent,” she said. “We can use that feedback and insight to inform our evaluations and deliberations as we start bringing candidates in over the next few months.”
According to the school district’s website, the 10 schools educate almost 9,000 students. There are six elementary schools, two middle schools and two high schools.