The Gloucester School Board held a work session Friday evening to discuss specific qualifications it should include in its superintendent job announcement.
During the meeting, board member Darren Post made a motion to include a public comment period for the work session. Chair Troy Andersen said that a public comment period had been held earlier in the week for this topic. Board member Robin Rice agreed with Andersen.
“The intent of that meeting was simply to listen to our constituents and gather public input,” said Rice. “And that the purpose of this meeting was to take what we heard on Tuesday night, as well as our survey results, and come together and actually work on those results.”
Post’s motion failed by a vote of 4-3, with Post, Carlton Drew and Karen Espinoza voting to include public comment during the work session.
The board approved the agenda as presented by a vote of 5-2, with Post and Drew dissenting.
The school board then discussed specific qualifications it would like to include in the superintendent job announcement. Most of the qualifications discussed were taken directly from the community survey. Board members discussed the new superintendent having a background in community relations, school safety, leadership, parental involvement, among others.
The board voted 6-1 to move forward with the official superintendent search application announcement with the qualifications discussed at the work session. Post dissented, opining a “rushed timeline” and “minimal community involvement” in the process.
The following qualifications were picked by the board to include in the job announcement:
Experience as a principal is required; Previous experience as a superintendent or assistant superintendent is preferred; Successful teaching experience is required, with experience in primary and secondary education preferred; An earned doctorate is preferred; Demonstrated experience in streamlining processes and utilizing manpower effectively; Proven ethical leadership with experience in strategic planning and a vision for Gloucester County Public Schools; Demonstrated ability to increase parental involvement and experience in implementing school law; A strong record of successful experience in the areas of school reform, including discipline, improving assessment scores, mitigating declining enrollment, curriculum and instruction, including special education, and staff development; and, Functional knowledge of operations, including school facility planning, construction and school safety improvements.
The school board also agreed that a successful candidate will have evidence of leading multicultural programs and strong community/media relations skills.
The candidate must demonstrate the following: Leadership and management skills: a team player who is comfortable with shared decision-making, a decisive leader and a visionary who utilizes creative thinking; Personal characteristics—an accessible leader who listens well, is transparent and accountable; Board-superintendent relations—effectively mediates and accommodates different perspectives, provides options and recommendations to the board before accepting board directives and is willing to assume a lead role in decision-making while keeping the board informed; Staff relations: creates an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect, maintains open channels of communication to and from staff, supports staff development activities and encourages professional growth; Community relations: Effectively advocates for school issues and needs, communicates effectively on both private and public levels, responds to individual concerns in an appropriate manner; School finance—lobbies for school funding on behalf of the school division, develops and explains the rationale for the budget to the board and local officials, offers creative funding solutions; and, Areas of expertise—curriculum and instruction, strategic planning and continuous improvement, and budget and finance.
The candidate is also required to become a resident of Gloucester County within six months of accepting employment with potential for a six-month extension depending on circumstances.
Completed applications are due by June 2. Interviews with candidates will occur in June and July and the board anticipates that it will announce the selected candidate in July or August.