Superintendent Search - Business Input

September 29th, 2008 at 03:04pm Bob Trojan

This morning I attended the Business Forum with a representative from Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates.  Also in attendance were representatives from the Chamber, RAEDC, RACVB and a major restaurant.  After discussing strengths and challenges of the District 205 School District, we opened up about key characteristics of the new superintendent that we thought were important.

The need for a Strategic Plan was one of the first requirements; a Plan approved by the board so that the superintendent would execute.  It was apparent that this plan does not exist and needs to be available as they start to finalize the candidates.  It seems that some work to the end was being done and hopefully would be made available before a final selection was made.

Strong leaderships skills, engaging with the “customers” a collaborator, one who could “roll up his/her sleeves” and connect with the various organizations in the community were among the major characteristics that we thought were important.  As business people and organizations, we see the workforce element of the job very important so the person need not a straight academic but one who has business skills to better understand what the community (customers) needs.

We all felt that the process was good and as it develops, we hope that input will be asked again as the finalists are narrowed down and more of us get the chance to add our opinions.  It’s an important selection, so stay tuned.

Entry Filed under: People, Education & Training