Thoughts on our new Superintendent
Sunday the Herald and Review had an opinion piece titled “OUR VIEW: Decatur superintendent selection is deeply troubling. Here's why.” This is typical of today’s media. They say there’s a problem, and the proof that there’s a problem is that, well, we say WE HAVE A PROBLEM! Really? What’s the proof of the problem? Is it that there was uncertainty about when people applied? This doesn’t seem like a problem in any hiring process to me. Is it that we spent money in our search for a new Superintendent and then didn’t hire either of the people the search firm recommended? Read on for my response to this. Or maybe that “Each then-candidate for the board sat in a meeting with the Herald & Review editorial board” and then the board didn’t hire either of those candidates. Again, what the heck is the problem? Please H&R what makes this hiring process “Deeply Troubling” besides the fact that you say it is?
I. The process.
Do this yourself. Sit down and get out two sheets of paper. On the first page, inside a box, write "Interview the 3 best internal candidates". Then draw an arrow to another process box that says, "Hire the best one". Last, draw an arrow to a parallelogram (this is the output of your workflow), and make this big so you can write "New Superintendent has the ability to inspire and lead teachers, students, and public".
Then on the second page start with a box that says, "Hire national search firm" with an arrow to another box that says, "Search firm interviews candidates from around the country". Then a line to a box that says, “Pick the best national candidate”. And a line to a diamond (this is a decision symbol) that says, “Is this candidate better than our best internal candidate?”, with a “Yes” arrow pointing to a box that says, “Hire external candidate”, and a “No” arrow pointing to a box that says, “Hire internal candidate”. Now both these “Hire…” boxes point to our output parallelogram to gauge the ability our new hire has to inspire and lead.
Since we don’t know before starting the process what will happen when we arrive at the decision diamond - will we move to the “Yes” or “No” process? And given the amount we pay our Superintendent of Schools, I for one am certainly willing to pay 20, 30, or even 40 thousand dollars to go through the process on page two. It’s a no-brainer for me.
II. Who we are getting
We haven’t talked to everyone in the district, but based on a small sample size, this was a very good hire. One administrator summed up some of the things we heard with this, and we paraphrase a bit, “When I’ve had a problem over the last year (and this was even during the time when it looked like the board was going to hire an external candidate) there is only one person from the administration office that would come to my school and listen.” This person was Dr. Rochelle Clark. All indications are that Dr. Clark will be a hands-on, clear-thinking person, willing to make the hard decisions and lead! Very different from our last Superintendent.
III. Playing to the Public
OK, it’s not all glowing reviews. We were disappointed to hear one of the first things Dr. Clark said when accepting the job was that she “intends to raise test scores in Decatur”. We get it. That’s what you have to say (maybe?). But, how about this:
Under my leadership we are going to transition Decatur Schools from this current hyperbolic concern about test scores, to a district that focuses on bringing joy to learning, and where we will work to create knowledgeable, caring, and compassionate adults. We will:
1. Focus on fun and caring in the early years, striving to run an environment where discipline is not required (although we reserve the right to use it when necessary). And if you don’t understand this, you should read some of the new research regarding preschool - https://www.npr.org/2022/02/10/1079406041/researcher-says-rethink-prek-preschool-prekindergarten
2. Focus on developing a compassion for learning in the middle years. Letting students advance at a pace that works for them. Some may excel more than others, but everyone will have the opportunity to achieve!
3. Make the later school years days where students flourish. We will give them the opportunity to move in different directions, but always with an eye on the expectations of the local and national job market.