By:
Dr. Anna Bucy
When looking for the best qualities
for a superintendent, a board need look no further than the superintendent
evaluation instruments and handbook available from the Ohio School Boards
Association and other well-researched sources. Generally speaking, a school
superintendent should be an educator with clear systems-thinking skills. Gone
are the days when a district administrator only needed to focus on balls, beans, and buses. District
leaders for the 21st century must have a firm grasp on the global
marketplace in which the district competes, the myriad stakeholders in the
community the district serves, the curricular challenges of the district, and
the effective (if not creative) management of the balls, beans, and buses.
Modern superintendents must have a
proven track record of academic achievement, which is measured by far more than
any standardized test scores. What is the candidate’s history with creating
innovative programs for students, professional development for teachers and
staff, and with seeking financial support? If the district has specific needs,
as Greenon Local does, with respect to funding building projects and
operations, the search committee needs to examine the candidate’s history along
those lines and whether the candidate has ideas to bring to the district. In
short, has the candidate done his/her homework?
Having non-educators evaluating
whether a candidate for superintendent has all the necessary skills to be
successful is a difficult endeavor. A key issue is that the board looks not at
what they as individuals want in the superintendent, but what the district
needs—what the students need—to be successful in the changing world.
While it is true that the school
board, as representatives of the entire community, sets the mission and vision
of the district, the superintendent must be able to implement that mission and
vision in every decision he or she makes. A district’s current strategic plan
should serve as the guide for any superintendent candidate looking to apply for
work, and for boards evaluating candidates. Greenon Local has not publicly
evaluated or updated its strategic plan in two years.
Hiring a superintendent means
looking for someone to lead into the future—someone with clear leadership
skills, a record of goal setting and accomplishing, and a focus on personal
lifelong learning. Successful boards look for a superintendent that respects
tradition, but is not bound by the way things have always been done when those
methods may not move a district forward. This means, of course, that boards
must also respect the path that brought the district where it is, but realize
that business as usual may not take a
district where it needs to go.
Superintendent candidates must also
evaluate the board and district to which they are applying for work. A
candidate must determine whether the board members work together well, whether there
is much conflict within the board or district, what positive and negative
information is available about the district, and whether the board seems to be
actively addressing district needs. Any candidate that does not ask questions
of the board or other search committee and does not appear to have researched
the district is not a serious candidate.
In a small community like Greenon
Local, the superintendent must be a working superintendent—no time to just
delegate and dismiss. A superintendent must be skilled at building bridges
within the community with stakeholder groups and within the schools with staff
and faculty. Being a superintendent is a very difficult job that requires
copious, open communication, respect of self and others, collaboration skills,
and the ability to align and articulate mission, vision and goals across all
areas of the district.
