District Administration - February 2008 - (Page 41)

A relative handful of ﬁrms conduct national searches, primarily for larger, urban school districts. Hamilton, Rabinovitz & Alschuler, a management consulting ﬁrm with oﬃces in New York, California and Oregon, has led recent superintendent searches in Boston, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. Heidrick & Struggles, an international executive recruiting ﬁrm that’s led searches for a new CEO at Walt Disney Co. and a new commissioner for Major League Baseball, also completes more than 50 national superintendent searches a year. The Chicago-based ﬁrm has been hired in recent years in Atlanta and New York City. Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, based in Glenview, Ill., performed 60 superintendent searches in 2006 and will complete another 75 this year, more than any other search ﬁrm in the country, according to CEO Hank Bangser. “Clearly the business of superintendent search work is growing,” Bangser says. And search consultants say the recruiting process has become more diﬃcult in recent years, with the ﬁrst wave of baby-boomer superintendents retiring and fewer candidates willing to endure the increasing rigors of a school district’s highest oﬃce. Superintendents, school board members, search consultants, and others in the education ﬁeld cite growing time demands, greater public scrutiny, and what many consider to be unrealistic standards imposed by the federal No Child Left Behind law. A typical search will yield 30 to 40 candidates now, Bangser says. Ten years ago, the ﬁgure was double that. Hiring Expertise Glass says a school board in need of a superintendent must ﬁrst determine the scope of the search—and how much it can aﬀord to spend. “Probably if they want to do a national search, a search ﬁrm is a good option,” says Glass, co-author of The State of the American School Superintendency. “If it’s going to be a statewide search, maybe the state school boards association is the best option. If it’s a small district, they might just put it out electronically and www.DistrictAdministration.com then let candidates apply.” David Derynoski, chairman of the board of education for Southington (Conn.) Public Schools, has taken part in hiring two superintendents in his ﬁfteen years on the board. In both cases, the board hired a search ﬁrm to recruit and screen candidates for the 7,000-student district. For the ﬁrst search, eight years ago, the board hired Richard Dempsey, a solo practitioner. The more recent search took place this spring, when the board hired Goens/Esparo to recruit candidates for a position eventually ﬁlled by Joseph Erardi, who was then superintendent of the Watertown (Conn.) School System. The experiences have made Derynoski a big believer in using search ﬁrms, rather than school boards, to recruit superintendent candidates. A search ﬁrm brings a two main things a ﬁrm can do. If you’re trusted, you get the true information on the background of a candidate. That’s where having trusted advisors that know people in the ﬁeld can help you get accurate information.” Steps to Success The procedural details of a superintendent search may vary from ﬁrm to ﬁrm, but most follow a familiar path. Here are the main steps: • Hold an Initial Meeting. In meetings with the school board, teachers, parents, students, and civic and business leaders— pretty much anyone with an interest in the outcome—the consultant will formulate a description of what the district wants in its next superintendent. In the San Francisco search, Attea met with more than 30 “For a board to conduct its own search, I think it’s an effort in futility.” —David Derynoski, chairman, Board of Education, Southington (Conn.) Public Schools level of expertise and a network of professional contacts that school board members can’t match, he says. Most importantly, he says, a search ﬁrm can ensure that the candidates’ conﬁdentiality will be preserved throughout the process. “For a board to conduct its own search, I think it’s an eﬀort in futility,” Derynoski says. So what does a school board get when it spends tens of thousands of dollars on a search consultant? The ﬁrms point to the experience of their consultants—typically, former administrators—and their ability to work their professional networks to ﬁnd the best person for the job. Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates employs 110 consultants in 27 states, Bangser says, nearly all of them retired administrators. Townsend says her ﬁrm’s strength is rooted in the combined experience of its nine partners, all former superintendents. “We know the work. We know the leadership,” she says. “We have a big network of people throughout the state. We’re still involved in all kinds of organizations. Recruiting and reference-checking are interest groups and the 27-member community advisory committee. • Solicit Candidates. The consultant solicits candidates by placing ads in education journals, asking for nominations from associates in the ﬁeld, and approaching sitting superintendents in other districts. Hamilton says that he sends 6,000 letters to his contacts when scouring the ﬁeld in a national search—“to penetrate every circle of personal or professional acquaintance that is relevant to the job.” • Narrow the Field. Once a pool of candidates is compiled, the consultant winnows the ﬁeld, typically by conducting in-person interviews. • Identify Semi-Finalists. The consultant chooses ﬁve to ten semiﬁnalists (the board usually determines the number beforehand) to present to the board. • Interview Candidates. Board members interview the semiﬁnalists. In many cases, this is the ﬁrst time that the board meets the candidates. Board members typically inquire about the candidates’ views on budget matters, curriculum, February 2008 41 http://www.DistrictAdministration.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - February 2008

District Administration - February 2008
Contents
Editor’s Letter
Letters
News Update
Technology Update
Security Update
Virtual Schools Update
Curriculum Update
Inside the Law
District Profile
The “Other” Advanced Program
State of the Superintendency
Landing the Chief
Purchasing Security Products and Services
How Well Does This Web Site Work?
Speaking Out
Professional Opinion
Supervisor’s Opinion
Overheard on the Pulse
New Products
Problem Solution
Computer Literature
Research Corner
Calendar of Events
Products Showcase
Understanding the Times

District Administration - February 2008