Superintendent Search Goes Public

By Ann K. Williams
Staff Writer

April 28 -- After weeks of closed meetings, the School Board went public Wednesday to talk about what it is looking for in the district’s next superintendent.

Whoever replaces Dr. John Deasy should be “visionary” and “an inspirational communicator,” according to some of the 170 community leaders, teachers and parents interviewed Monday and Tuesday by consultants conducting the search.

The new superintendent should also be “collaborative, yet decisive,” and “visible, accessible and actively engaged,” consultants concluded from pages of hastily compiled lists describing the School District’s ideal leader.

“It looks like we’re trying to rehire John,” remarked Maria Leon-Vazquez.

Board President Julia Brownley agreed that the Board is looking for someone who can carry on the work started by Deasy, who left the district this month to take a new job as superintendent of Prince George’s County schools near Washington, D.C., one of the nation’s largest urban school districts.

“I want to stay on the course and the trajectory that we are on,” Brownley said.

But the lengthy lists presented by Dr. Bill Attea of Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, the executive search firm hired by the district, did contain some apparently contradictory traits, and some that may signal a desire for change.

“Creative thinker” was next to “data-driven decision-maker” on one list, and “risk taker” followed “politically savvy.”

And institutional "transparency" and "communication" were identified as challenges the next superintendent ought to address.

“Communication is a two-way process,” Attea said he was told, and listening was identified as an important trait.

The superintendent should be a “service leader,” said some respondents, and the central office should serve the students and the public.

“This organization exists to control,” some confided in Attea.

And “time and time again, we heard ‘too much emphasis on tests,’” Attea told the board.

All interviews and surveys are confidential, according to the draft profile report, which goes on to say that the board has “the final responsibility to define these characteristics.”

The report, which also enumerated the district’s strengths and challenges, is not a scientific survey, Attea said. It’s just a reflection of what his firm heard from a variety of self-selected individuals, “the most critical, the most supportive.”

The board seemed overwhelmed by the long lists, and Attea suggested its first job ought to be reducing and “prioritizing” the pages of community input.

“Obviously you are never going to be able to find anyone who can do all this,” he said.

Board member Emily Bloomfield suggested fitting the motley data into an “overarching framework.”

Brownley and Board Vice President Kathy Wisnicki agreed that Bloomfield’s framework describes the job:

“1. Vision and experience with measurably raising student achievement, providing equitable access to the highest levels of learning and developing students for the 21st century workforce.

“2. Prioritizing resources and training/staff development in line with the above-mentioned goals and objectives.

“3. Tracking, measuring and publicly reporting on results with respect to the above-mentioned goals.”

A final profile will be presented at the board meeting on May 18, after which the search firm can begin to recruit candidates, Attea said.

But before that, his firm will hold another set of community and staff meetings, since it received complaints from people who didn’t know about this week’s meetings.

On May 10, there will be three meetings open to the public:

7 a.m. to 9 a.m. in the auditorium at Malibu High School,

12:30p.m. to 2 p.m. in the board room in the District Office, and

7:30p.m. to 9 p.m. in the board room in the District Office, with Spanish translation.

On the same day, there will be a meeting from 3:30p.m. to 5 p.m. for district employees at the board room in the District Office.

There is also a survey posted on the District website http://www.smmusd.org/ which members of the public are encouraged to fill out. To find it, click on “Board Meetings” in the left hand column, scroll down to April 26, 2006 and click on Leadership Profile Assessment. It is a pdf file, and must be printed out.

Attea urged the district to update its website. He pointed out that recruiting brochures are obsolete, and the website will be many candidates’ first impression of the district they hope to lead.

One more bit of news at the meeting -- the board congratulated member Oscar de la Torre and his wife Maria Loya on the birth of their first child, Oscar Emiliano. De la Torre beamed as he was thanked for doing his part to increase the enrollment of the district.