My observation is that districts who use school board associations for superintendent searches (Evanston used ISBE, DeKalb used GSBA) are more likely to do the secretive interviews/final solo candidate. Districts who use private search firms are more likely to have more public processes. Ann Arbor, MI, which reminds me of Evanston in som…
My observation is that districts who use school board associations for superintendent searches (Evanston used ISBE, DeKalb used GSBA) are more likely to do the secretive interviews/final solo candidate. Districts who use private search firms are more likely to have more public processes. Ann Arbor, MI, which reminds me of Evanston in some ways, is interviewing for a new superintendent, led by a private firm, and had public interviews with the top 7 candidates this weekend. It was all experienced folks who interviewed- they know the drill.
My other observation is that the state board associations produce lower quantities of candidates and it may be correlated with recommendations to keep information about the pool private.
We had another district in Georgia, Chatham-Savannah- who has a lot of challenges and they had a ton more candidates than DeKalb, the 29th largest school district in the country. They used a private firm. Private firms have more resources and a larger geographical reach, but the whole process is more complex and nuanced. I do think it is fair to say you get what you pay for.
I have a hunch it was all just a show so they could hire someone they already had in mind. This is essentially how (I believe) it went down with Dr. Horton who had a ton of contacts inside D65 already, including a Board Member, and Dr. Turner before they even hired the search firm.
Edit: to be more precise - Dr. Turner and Ms. Tanyavutti (who was a board member at the time) both worked with Dr. Horton inside the AUSL system. Dr. Turner was (at one point) in charge of all the AUSL principals so she definitely would've known Dr. Horton in advance. Ms. Tanyavutti was some kind of advisor in the system, so I have no idea, but AUSL is not a very big system.
My observation is that districts who use school board associations for superintendent searches (Evanston used ISBE, DeKalb used GSBA) are more likely to do the secretive interviews/final solo candidate. Districts who use private search firms are more likely to have more public processes. Ann Arbor, MI, which reminds me of Evanston in some ways, is interviewing for a new superintendent, led by a private firm, and had public interviews with the top 7 candidates this weekend. It was all experienced folks who interviewed- they know the drill.
My other observation is that the state board associations produce lower quantities of candidates and it may be correlated with recommendations to keep information about the pool private.
We had another district in Georgia, Chatham-Savannah- who has a lot of challenges and they had a ton more candidates than DeKalb, the 29th largest school district in the country. They used a private firm. Private firms have more resources and a larger geographical reach, but the whole process is more complex and nuanced. I do think it is fair to say you get what you pay for.
Again, just my observations.
I have a hunch it was all just a show so they could hire someone they already had in mind. This is essentially how (I believe) it went down with Dr. Horton who had a ton of contacts inside D65 already, including a Board Member, and Dr. Turner before they even hired the search firm.
Edit: to be more precise - Dr. Turner and Ms. Tanyavutti (who was a board member at the time) both worked with Dr. Horton inside the AUSL system. Dr. Turner was (at one point) in charge of all the AUSL principals so she definitely would've known Dr. Horton in advance. Ms. Tanyavutti was some kind of advisor in the system, so I have no idea, but AUSL is not a very big system.