Three firms are vying for a contract to handle the upcoming search for Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Superintendent Lewis Holloway’s successor.
The Clinton-based Mississippi School Boards Association — the group that previously handled the search that brought Holloway to the former Starkville School District — the Nebraska-based McPherson & Jacobson and the Iowa-based Ray and Associates each presented proposals Thursday during a special-called school board of trustees meeting.
School board members took no action on the offers on Thursday but are expected to pick a search firm at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday during another special-called meeting.
After an almost two-hour meeting Thursday, the school district’s board of trustees President Jenny Turner said she and her fellow board members need time to digest each proposal.
“We’re lucky that we have some time to figure all of this out. I’m looking forward to picking a consultant and getting this process going,” she said.
Each firm presented similar, multi-step processes that asks the school board to define criteria and characteristics sought in a new hire, seeks input through stakeholder meetings, advertises the position online and through educational networks, screens candidates, hosts interviews and assists the district with the hiring process.
The Mississippi School Boards Association’s top-tier search package would cost the district at least $9,500, McPherson & Jacobson’s proposal was $11,500 and Ray and Associates’ services were listed at $16,500. All three contracts include additional expenses — lodging, food, advertising and others — that could push the final total beyond their baseline price.
All three companies offered to waive baseline fees and restart the search if it failed to yield a suitable candidate, but out-of-pocket expenses generated in the new effort would still be charged.
The two out-of-state firms offered to waive baseline fees for a new search if the hired candidate left the district within two years, and the Mississippi firm’s Executive Director Michael Waldrop said similar language could be added to his group’s contract.
School board members could use December to develop a criteria for the superintendent search, which would allow a selected firm to advertise the upcoming vacancy at the beginning of the year.
The search could conclude in 2017’s late winter or early spring, with the new superintendent taking over Holloway’s role on July 1.
Holloway submitted a letter to the school board earlier this month announcing his intention to retire on June 30 and requesting trustees release him from his contract two years early.
He joined SSD in 2012 before the Legislature mandated it absorb the Oktibbeha County School District in 2015. This year marks Holloway’s 42nd year working in education.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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