District Administration - February 2008 - (Page 42)

Landing the CHIEF and test scores, among a myriad of topics. But George Goens believes school boards should look beyond the standard sets of numbers that tend to deﬁne a school system. “The interview process has to focus not only on metrics but also how that person responds, the feeling they engender in those interviews,” Goens says. “Leadership is all about relationships—how a person is going to relate to teachers, parents, and students.” Garcia says he used his time with the San Francisco board to ask pointed questions of his own. He was well aware of the board’s recent rocky past, and he set out to discern whether he could function with the seven-member board, three of whom were just a few months on the job. “I ﬂat-out told them, ‘You as a board have a horrible reputation. My question to you is, ‘Are you willing to put aside things that have happened in the past that possibly divided you and move forward? And are you willing to be part of team that will solve things?’ “Finally one of board members realized, ‘Well, you’re interviewing us.’ I said, ‘Absolutely. I don’t need a job.’ I kind of laid out my cards in front of them. I Revolving Doors SOMETIMES AS SUPERINTENDENTS SHUFFLE FROM ONE POST TO THE NEXT, changing jobs with the regularity of National Football League coaches, their world can become an incestuous place. Last year, Goens/Esparo, a search ﬁrm based in West Hartford, Conn., lured Superintendent Harvey Polanski from his seven-year post at Southington (Conn.) Public Schools to become the new superintendent in Milford, some 60 miles to the south. How did the Southington Board of Education respond to the search ﬁrm’s heist of its CEO? A month after Polanski announced his intention to vacate the superintendent’s ofﬁce, the board hired Goens/Esparo to search for his replacement. That search started in late May. Two months later—“we were on a fast track,” says David Derynoski, board president—the board hired Joseph Erardi, the superintendent of Watertown Public Schools, about 20 miles to the east. Erardi, a widely loved educator in Watertown, just two years on the job, was hailed as a big reason the district passed two consecutive budgets for the ﬁrst time in recent memory. His new job will raise his salary by $12,000, to $153,000. “That really made our decision that this was something we wanted to do.” • Conduct Background Checks. Once a single ﬁnalist is identiﬁed, the consultant will check into the candidate’s background, verifying details on his or her résumé, looking for any circumstance “I think the trend now is going toward a more contained search because of the competition for candidates.” —George Goens, co-director, Goens/Esparo LLC wasn’t arrogant about it. I already knew that these are pretty good people. You can only do so much as a superintendent. People have to meet you halfway. You’re only as good as the team you have, and in this case the board’s the team.” • Tour Districts. The board then conducts a second round of interviews with two or three ﬁnalists. Some boards also will invite the ﬁnalists’ spouses to the return visit, which might include a meal and a tour of the district. In San Francisco, the board took Carlos and Gail Garcia to dinner on the day of his second interview. “My wife really had a great time with the board and really enjoyed their company,” Garcia says. 42 February 2008 in his or her personal life or professional career that might signal trouble. Bangser says Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates hires a private investigator to conduct what’s known as a seven-point check that includes scrutinizing criminal records, driving records, and newspaper articles and checking a candidate’s employment history—even marital history—in an eﬀort to uncover potential red ﬂags. • Announce Results. If the background check comes up clean, the board will hire a new superintendent. Public and Private Recruiting Another reason that school boards hire search ﬁrms these days is to keep the recruiting process under wraps, as more school districts—even candidates themselves—are demanding conﬁdentiality. It’s part of what Richard Schwab, the dean of the school of education at the University of Connecticut, calls the “professionalization” of the search process. For the candidates, the reasons are simple: A superintendent in one district who is identiﬁed as a candidate in another district will quickly lose the support of the local school board, not to mention the district’s teachers, parents, and community at large. And if the job falls through, the superintendent will have some explaining to do. “I think the trend now is going toward a more contained search because of the competition for candidates,” Goens says. That’s where the search ﬁrm comes in. While sitting superintendents might be reluctant to discuss job openings with an out-of-town school board or advisory committee, they might feel more comfortable with a professional search consultant, conﬁdent that the process will be kept conﬁdential. When a school board hires a consultant to conduct a superintendent search, the board may never know who applied for the job until the consultant delivDistrict Administration

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