Final Seattle Schools' Superintendent Search Meetings
Tuesday Open Thread
The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested. It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio. (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
Comments
Email sent to the School Board, with variations to Micah Ali, lead search for HYA, and also Max. McGee, president of HYA
Dear School Board members:
As you enter the final weeks of the official application process for the position of Superintendent, I am certain you have already been in deep conversation about the interview process itself. As a community member and educator who has been a participant and observer in many, many superintendent search processes, I want to offer you a thought on ensuring true community support for our next leader; in short, make the finalist selection process as public and as inclusive as possible.
I know that it is in vogue to keep the identities of candidates confidential, in some cases, even up to the point of final selection. That is not what is best at this juncture, in this moment of leadership crisis. I know of one search firm, for example, who works with the board to to select up to six semi-finalists, and these semi-finalists are interviewed in a public setting, and the interview is livestreamed. This process then leads to up to three finalists who each spend a day in the district in meetings and interviews with school and community stakeholders. In the end, the board makes it selection after this rigorous public process.
I have also seen where the finalists are selected through a confidential interview process, and then engage in the day-long, public process, with a livestreamed, curated Q&A with the community as the culminating event before closed-door deliberations and selection.
Central to each of these is a very public process. Truly, a school district cannot - and should not - be shackled by any given candidate's squeamishness about applying. If a candidate wants this job, they need to want it fully and joyfully enough to bravely seek it, and not hide. As a community we need a leader who is brave, who is optimistic, who exudes confidence and eagerness to wade into our challenges. A more public process will yield such a candidate, and will also show the city and our families of the courage and commitment of your leadership.