Consultants for the Searcy School District’s superintendent search reviewed the stakeholder input summary from the focus group meetings at this week’s School Board meeting, saying that the groups were “very responsive” and “provided us with some great details.”
Dr. Ken James and Dr. Bobby Lester of McPherson and Jacobson LLC of Omaha, Neb., also reviewed a draft of proposed interview questions and provided the logistics of how interview day will go for the recommended finalists when they arrive in Searcy.
At the Searcy School Board meeting held at Ahlf Junior High School on Wednesday, James and Lester said that phases 1 and 2 of the process have been completed. These phases included working with the School Board and five focus groups, including a community one, to choose the criteria for the next superintendent in the district.
The cutoff date for applications is March 1. Then the work of going through the applications will begin, including “extensive background checks.” On March 17, James and Lester will submit a list of recommended finalists for the position, which became open when Diane Barrett, Searcy’s superintendent for the past 11 years, gave her resignation to start her retirement at the end of June.
The stakeholder meetings took place Jan. 19 at the Performing Arts Center at the high school. The day time groups were held with administrators, a student group, a certified group and a classified group. Each focus group had 12 people. The community group was made up of 15 people.
“Each one of the groups was very responsive, they were very thoughtful and they provided us with some great details,” James said.
When it came to the groups discussing the “greatest assets of the Searcy community,” James shared some of the responses, which were a compilation from all the groups – “a group of families working together,” “a very supportive town,” “a caring and supportive community,” “low crime rate, “strong church support,” “strong christian community,” “excellent partnerships with Harding University and Arkansas State University,” “very good medical facilities and practitioners, “strong assistance for those in need,” “plenty of housing available at all levels” and “Searcy is the heart of Arkansas, we have a place where thousands live and a million want to.”
Some of the responses to “what are the assets of the Searcy School District?” were “excellent schools,” “excellent and caring staff, “student-oriented team approach,” “everyone does their job,” “strong athletic and extracurricular activities,” “community support,” “good relationships, city and county government,” “strong financial condition,” “students are treated like real people,” “longevity in staff,” “stability in staff,” “tradition of excellence,” “communication and leadership excellence,” “every millage increase has been supported,” “very efficient School Board, always prepared, open and transparent, methodical in decision making.”
A parent was quoted as saying “proud to say that my kids go to Searcy schools. The greatest asset is the heart of the teachers.”
Regarding the characteristics the groups wanted to see in the next superintendent, they included “we want to see a people person, strong financially, strong in academics, an ability to connect with all stakeholders, known and visible in the community, great communicator, strong PR [public relations] skills, identify why enrollment is declining.
“We want someone who is honest, someone who must be able to build teacher morale, we want a good listener, we want someone who can have an open exchange with the board, they must be a unifier, must be able to relate with all stakeholders, strong backbone and is willing to make tough decisions that are in the best interest of the kids, someone who understands that it is OK to fail sometimes because that is how we all grow, ability to delegate when necessary.”
The last questions the groups tackled, concerning criteria, was “What are the key issues the superintendent is going to face coming in?” Some of their answers were “the person needs to continue to build trust and transparency, a focus on teaching how to think versus what to think, important to communicate across the district and the community, facility management, turning around declining enrollment, a balance between athletics and academics, a need to examine diversity across the staff, continue to build upon current marketing strategy, person needs to have a willingness to go beyond where we are currently and continue role of recruitment as an ongoing process, lack of substitutes in the district.”
James said he would forward the nine=page document, summarizing the stakeholders’ input, to the members of the School Board.
Finalists will be contacted the evening of March 17 after the School Board has the chance in executive session to view videos they will have submitted by then. The board will tell James and Lester how many of the recommended finalists that it would like to interview.
Normally, James said, four to six candidates would be brought in for interviews, which will take place the week after Searcy’s spring break.
James reminded the board that each candidate chosen will require a full day of time in Searcy. One of the “beautiful” things about the stakeholders meetings, according to James, is that the chosen finalists are already going to know the 48 focus group members and the 15 members from the community.
“They are going to have an instant network, so to speak,” he said.
