Board Considers Outside Firm in Sup’t Search

 — by Margie Doyle —

A meeting next Tuesday, Dec. 3 may prove critical for input into the selection of a new Superintendent for the Orcas Island School District.

School Board President Chris Sutton said following the meeting, “One of the main topics and potential decision at this meeting will be if the district should hire an outside firm to manage this process, or if we should do this entirely in house.”

At the November school board meeting on Nov. 26, the three board members in attendance — Tony Ghazel, Scott Lancaster and Chris Sutton — discussed how to proceed in the selection of the position. Current Superintendent Barbara Kline will retire on June 30, 2014.

Following her announcement earlier this fall, the OISD board put out a call for people to serve on two committees: one to define the FTE, duties, skill sets, type of ideal candidate, salary range, any alternative admin structure possibilities, etc.;the second team to define who will be on the search committee, use of a headhunter or not, scope of the search, interview process, final interview process, process of final vetting of candidates, etc. About 18 people responded to serve on each team, Sutton said.

He proposed a Board workshop, open to the public, to decide FTE, salary range and other key, initial questions.

In discussion of the matter, Lancaster and Ghazel recommended that the board consult with a professional search team, McPherson & Jacobson, an executive recruitment and development service specializing in Executive Searches for public entities.  The two school board members met representatives of that firm, which represents the Washington State School Directors Association (WSSDA), among other state organizations in other states

Lancaster: said that after meeting with about 1,500 school directors and superintendents at last week’s conference, and with officers of McPherson & Jacobson,  “I’m  convinced we need to do a search group sooner rather than later and not try to reinvent the wheel. It’s important to move forward, involve the community, and follow the direction of community.”

He noted that McPherson Jacobson “has a better reputation than the last group used.” (In 2006 Glenn Harris was selected by a professional search team; he resigned two years later.) The board may put out a RFP to other search firms.

Lancaster said time was pressing if the board was to consider “a nationwide search of candidates; to start setting up schedules of public meetings and staff meetings. By Dec. 19, we need to make hard decisions about FTE and salary range; and whether to hire an outside firm.”

Sutton asked his colleagues if they needed “to figure out ourselves what’s needed before we approach the firm,” or if the firm presented their analysis and salary recommendations.

Ghazel agreed with Lancaster, saying, “Having a professional firm lead us through this process seems to me like a wise decision.” He cited such a firm’s ability to discern fine legal points in the process.

Ghazel emphasized that such consultants would not be ‘directed to “put the process behind doors;” but to bring “everything out in the open.”

The meeting is scheduled for next Tuesday, Dec. 3, at 5:30 p.m. in the school library, “to explain to those who’ve offered their services, the board’s plan to engage a professional firm.”

Ghazel later said the consultant firm had been contacted, but does not yet know if they’ll be able to make a meeting on Orcas with such short notice.