Against the recommendation of the search firm hired to find a
new superintendent of schools, the school board will allow an
advisory committee of union members to interview the final three
candidates.
Against the recommendation of the search firm hired to find a new superintendent of schools, the school board will allow an advisory committee of union members to interview the final three candidates.
Taking stock of inclusive words like “team builder,” collaborative” and “open” scrawled on large yellow pages hung around the board room after a final brainstorming session about the superintendent recruitment brochure Thursday night, Morgan Hill trustees decided to allow an advisory committee to interview its final candidates. A representative from each of Morgan Hill Unified School District’s three employee groups will sit on the committee.
Union officials and members of Latino student advocacy group Padres Unidos spoke of the importance of community input in the selection process.
But closed search proponents say that input could limit the number of qualified candidates, since sitting superintendents don’t want to ignite controversy for applying for a position unless they’re certain they’ll be hired, he said.
“Very good candidates ask that question (of whether the search will be closed or open),” The Cosca Group representative Steve Goldstone told the board. The group has built a reputation on being a confidential search firm. This will be the first of 36 Cosca searches that will include an interview panel, he said. Confidentiality is a primary concern of candidates, he said, adding, “There are no guarantees in life, but there’s a greater guarantee (of confidentiality) when just the board is involved.”
Goldstone also questioned the usefulness of additional candidate interviews, saying that site visits are more fruitful since candidates who interview well may not be the best for the position. Goldstone emphasized that selecting a superintendent is the most important job of the Board of Education. Since the responsibility is theirs, they should make the decision themselves, he argued.
Incidentally, a frequent community complaint is that the board “ignored” the will of the community during the last search, when they chose Superintendent Alan Nishino over a 16-member committee’s top choices.
But trustee Bart Fisher questioned the validity of the studies suggesting that good candidates turn down open searches, and said he wasn’t sure if he wanted the type of superintendent who would turn down an open search.
Trustee Shelle Thomas said no where in the community input was the desire for a sitting superintendent, who presumably would be the most likely to turn down an open search.
The board approved the added community involvement in a 5-2 vote during its special meeting Thursday night. Trustees Kathy Sullivan and Mike Hickey voted against the motion.
Sullivan agreed with Cosca’s position, saying she learned from the last search that cutting off community input can be a good thing.
“We’re not going to make people happy,” she said, adding that it was Cosca’s strong recommendation to close the search process after the community input leg of the search, which concluded with the 41-page report presented to the board Thursday night.
Federation of Teachers President Theresa Sage spoke vociferously for the added involvement.
“By starting off the bat not including us you risk setting a precedence. If you want buy in, it starts here. It’s got to start with this process. I don’t want to … set the superintendent up with problems right off the bat.”
Sage said union leaders bring an expertise of their fields that is useful to the board.
Trustee Shelle Thomas agreed.
“When I look around us, I see the need for more transparency,” she said, gesturing to the lists around the board room. “What we’re looking for in a superintendent, is an experienced educator. No where in there is the demand for a sitting superintendent. There has to be some openness.”
Thomas said the unions and administration have been at odds for too long after lengthy contract negotiations and Public Employee Relations Board complaints. To discount their opinion during the search for a new superintendent would be another blow to the already tattered relationships, she said.
“I know where the healing needs to be,” Thomas said.
The board flubbed through three failed motions before landing on the one that stuck. A representative from the Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers, the Service Employees International Union and Morgan Hill Educational Leaders Association will participate in a separate discussion with the superintendent candidates during a second round of interviews, currently scheduled to take place in early October.
Nishino, who retired June 30 after four years in Morgan Hill, will end his interim contract with the district Aug. 31. The board has yet to decide whether or not they will hire an interim superintendent for September through mid-October.
The trustees also ignored The Cosca Group’s advise on the timeline, shortening the deadline for applications by one week. The new deadline is Sept. 18. The Cosca Group strongly advised the board to conduct Cosca’s standard six-week search, given that the firm will be attempting to entice educators to apply amid the flurry of activity that comes with the start of a new school year. The trustees, though, anxious to get the search over and done with, advised them to wrap up early and to begin the five-week search with a week of networking while the brochures for the position are being printed.
