The Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Board of Trustees took the first steps in laying out a plan for its superintendent search on Tuesday evening.
The board discussed the best way to progress with the search during its Tuesday meeting with CEO and owner Thomas Jacobson and consultant Tom Clark of the McPherson and Jacobson firm trustees hired in November to conduct the search.
The purpose of the search is to replace current Superintendent Lewis Holloway, who was hired in 2012. Holloway submitted a letter to the school board in November announcing his intention to retire and requesting trustees release him from his contract two years early.
To start, the board pushed to take applications until Feb. 7. The board will then hold a meeting to whittle the field down to a few finalists on Feb. 23 and will begin interviews on Feb. 27.
Dates have not been finalized.
Jacobson had originally suggested leaving the search open until March, but board members expressed concern that the district might miss out on the best candidates if they wait that long.
“I worry that we are going to let some of the best candidates be taken by stretching it this long,” said board Vice President Keith Coble. “I don’t want to move it forward or backwards; I want to compress it, I think. Start it, and not let good candidates be hired away from us before we’ve made a decision.”
The district will also hold three public hearings — one for east Oktibbeha County, one for west Oktibbeha County and one for Starkville — to gather community feedback on the superintendent search.
Board members and Jacobson tentatively considered Jan. 9-11 for the meetings, but those dates will be finalized later.
Jacobson said his firm will create a document with feedback from district stakeholders, which includes teachers and staff, that outlines whatever reoccurring themes may come up. He suggested the district make that document publicly available once it’s prepared.
Jacobson further suggested allowing representatives of stakeholder groups to meet with candidates during interview days and to provide input on the candidate’s perceived strengths and weaknesses. He said feedback could be put in a sealed envelope, and district officials could open and read it after conducting all the interviews.
He said steps like that help people feel involved in the selection, which helps the process overall.
“When people know they’ve been listened to, they support your decision,” Jacobson said.
Jacobson also said his firm can host an online portal for people to submit input, which would be included in the firm’s report.
“Our goal is, there’s nobody in your district that can say they did not have an opportunity to provide input to the district,” he said.
During the meeting, board members also outlined qualities they want to see in a superintendent. The board started with 25 qualities. Those were narrowed down by combining some together, and board members then pointed out which ones were especially important.
Suggested qualities included trustworthiness and transparency, experience in a district of a similar size, someone who has proven achievement in improving the performance of disadvantaged children, and a proven leader with successful school districts.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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