Racne Superintendent Search

It looks like Racine is searching for a new Supt. to be hired by July 1st (same as the ECASD) but they have not yet hired their search firm yet. HEY!! We are actually ahead of another district in this regard.

Maria

Unified superintendent search heats up

BY PAUL SLOTH
Journal Times

Wednesday, October 24, 2007 9:08 PM CDT
RACINE — The Racine Unified School Board has taken another step in its
search for a new superintendent. The board hopes to have the new
leader start July 1.

Members of a board search committee Monday finalized the details of
their recommendation to the full board. The committee has met twice in
the past two weeks to select a few firms and develop a search
timeline. The entire process will last roughly one year.

The board will first hire a professional search firm to find
candidates interested in replacing Tom Hicks, who resigned in August
after holding the job for six years.

The board will discuss the search committee's recommendations at its
monthly business meeting Monday, including the timeline and the names
of at least six firms from which the committee is interested in
hearing.

Once the board chooses a firm, members will spend the early part of
next year interviewing superintendent candidates.

A superintendent search can cost a school district from $40,000 to
more than $100,000 depending on the kind of services a school board
expects, according to the Council of the Great City Schools, an
organization of the nation's largest school districts.

Once the board picks a search firm, members will determine what to
look for in a superintendent candidate.

Sue Kutz, the board's vice president, said she hopes the board can
start interviewing candidates in February or March.

Board members will have to decide how far to cast their net for a
candidate to replace Hicks, who is on an extended leave of absence
through June 30.

Interim Superintendent Jack Parker has offered advice to the board
about some of the realities of searching for superintendents,
especially in urban districts. The pool of candidates is reportedly
very shallow, Parker told committee members.

Unified is not the only Wisconsin school district currently searching
for a new superintendent. Kenosha Unified School District and the
Madison Metropolitan School District both are searching for new
leaders, which presents even more challenges, search committee members
said.

If the full Unified board approves the plan Monday, the district will
solicit bids from at least six firms. Search committee members said
they hope to select the firm by the beginning of December and develop
and approve criteria for searching for a superintendent in early
January.

Committee members said they hope to find a firm that has some
experience with finding superintendent candidates for urban districts.

Unified has experience with at least one firm, Hazard, Young and
Associates, which helped the board find Hicks and Marguerite Vanden
Wyngaard, the district's chief academic officer.