2009.04.14
School board wants to start superintendent hunt
Montgomery County school board members want to get the ball rolling on a superintendent search to replace Tiffany Anderson by next week. And, most say they're in favor of using a national search firm, which could be costly.
Tonight, the seven board members said they'd review this week a proposal from the 2004 search that resulted in Anderson's hiring and plan to approve a similar ad at a meeting Tuesday. That ad would help them find a firm. An ad for the superintendent's position would likely be placed once the board hired a search firm. Anderson leaves the district effective June 30, and the board has 180 days after that to find a replacment.
In the 2004 search, the school board used national firm Ray and Associates, which cost close to $25,000.
The Virginia School Board Association offers statewide and regional search assistance, but Montgomery board chairman Wendel Jones said he wouldn't work with them again based on a poor experience during the hunt that found Anderson.
At least one school board member expressed concern that the board open a national search.
Joe Ivers said he wants to "exhaust all local talent" first because of cost. Other board members said he was echoing sentiments from the public about the cost on the cash-strapped district.
The school board did hear an update on its 2009-2010 operating budget, which isn't scheduled to be approved until May 5.
The update included $3.2 million in federal stimulus dollars, but the school board still will need to cut about $1 million from its original budget plan. The adjustments do mean that some teachers positions the board had planned to keep vacant and other programs destined for the chopping block could be restored.
You can read more about the superintendent search and the budget in Thursday's Current.
Chairman Jones is mis-remembering, I believe. When Fred Morton was granted a release from his mutli-year contract and left mid-school year and Dr. Anderson was subsequently hired, Ray & Associates was hired from among six firms considered. The VSBA services were also considered, yet not utilized for several reasons (among them, cost and that they didn't negotiate salaries). The RFP and resulting contract with the search firm did include negotiations once a potential candidate was decided upon, yet at that point the search firm was absent having other more pressing business to attend to. This part of the process was then addressed by the chair with guidance from the full board and legal counsel. The VSBA was not involved. The biggest challenge that I remember was setting a timeline that met the 180 day requirement which provided for community and employee input, and noting most viable candidates had jobs already and were unable to begin work before July 1 when contracts renewed.
Comment by TL — April 15, 2009 @ 8:42 am
The School Board Meeting last Tuesday revealed an interesting perspective on the previous Superintendent search conducted by Ray and Associates. Board member Penny Franklin, while on her "soapbox", pasionately stated that the VSBA representative stated that VA Tech was the biggest asset to our community in terms of getting the top candidates to apply within this region. To which Ms. Franklin replied by hanging up and ending the teleconference.
Ms. Franklin's actions and subssequent statments relative to finding a search firm AGAIN says more about her lack of understanding of the job market for this region than it does about the limitations of Ray and Associates. Granted, I'm not a fan of the former search firm. I believe they were guided by a minority of board members with a mandate. A mandate the VSBA would not subscribe to.
Ms. Franklin should recognize that the people are drawn to the New River Valley for higher educational opportunity and for workforce prospects with regional corporate business and industry. People choose to stay in this area for a myriad of reasons to include the Montgomery County Public School System. So lets get real.
The Montgomery County School Board is a member of the VSBA. As a member, they can utilize the services of the VSBA as a search firm at a substantially reduced rate as compared to that of a private search firm. The money saved would show a "good faith effort" in being responsible consumers of taxpayers money during economic hard times.
Ms. Franklin should consider all options available to this board before participating in a Superintendent search AGAIN. If she is unwilling, then I hope Wendell Jones is present for the next meeting...
Comment by Leonard — April 29, 2009 @ 8:33 am