BOE Creates Timeline for Sup Search

A timeline detailing how the BOE plans to conduct its search for a Superintendent of Norwalk schools was released by Board Chair Rosa Murray after Tuesday night's bi-weekly board meeting.

The disclosure is a promising development that gives both parents and employees of the school district tangible milestones by which to measure the BOE's progress in finding a new executive.

However given that four months have already gone by since the resignation of Sal Corda, the holidays are around the corner, an election is upcoming and the fact that interim Superintendent Bill Pappallo can only work to the end of the year, I have concerns whether the board will be able to execute on Ms. Murray's plan.

"It is exciting for me to announce that the solicitation for proposals from search firms is well under way and that proposals are now being accepted," said Ms Murray in a statement released to the media.

At its September 15th meeting the BOE decided that all of its members would serve on a search committee but that it would also hire a search firm.

In her statement Ms. Murray said that many of the tasks that BOE expects from the search firm are "fairly standard" and include items such as:

1. Providing the board with the benefit of their experience as experts in the field as they will have successfully completed many searches,
2. Solicit community input to assist the board in creating a profile of desired skills and characteristic that the new superintendent should possess,
3. Advertise for and recruit quality candidates for this position,
4. Thoroughly investigate selected candidates’ credentials and background,
5. Provide other functions as directed by the board.

Along with the statement, Ms. Murray released a timeline (embedded below) that outlines certain actions that need to take place and dates by which they will be completed.

For example, by October 6 the BOE was to have chosen firms that it would interview search firms. (At the BOE meeting held that night Dr. Pappallo reported that requests for proposals had been sent to seven firms and four had responded. He said the whole process should take 3-4 months)

By next week, according to the timeline, the BOE expects to have interviewed and chosen the firm. The search firm would then have until October 20 to outline how it would collect community input and produce samples of newspaper ads and a brochure about the positions.

During the month of November, the BOE would like the firm to collect community input and also begin the recruitment of candidates. The board hopes to start interviewing after November 29th and be able to announce a hire thereafter.

I have questions of my own like what format will the "community input" take? Will there be forums where parents and teachers can express their needs and hopes? Will the finalist appear publicly before he or she is selected?

Most importantly, neither Ms. Murray's statement nor the timeline document addresses contingencies to deal with the situation that no candidates are found in the given timeframe.

It's definitely good to finally see the BOE's thinking on paper, but the goals seem aspirational. There is 2 1/2 months before the end of the year, and Thanksgiving and Christmas fall in that period.

Robert Rader, the executive director of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education, told the Hour in an interview that a superintendent search process generally takes at least six months from beginning to end depending on the process and the availability of candidates.

Depending when the BOE wants the new superintendent to start candidates could be in short supply. That's because their contracts run from July 1 to June 30.

The cynic in me also notes that there is an election coming up in less than a month with half of the board, including Ms. Murray, up for election. In all likelihood not everyone will be returning. To what degree will the BOE feel that they have to defer to the wishes of the newly elected members? Suppose some of the Parents not Politicians candidates want to proceed differently?

Don't get me wrong this information is valuable and I'm glad that it was produced. However, perhaps this timeline should have been compiled shortly after Dr. Corda's resignation. The actual search to find the right candidate for our district is the part of the process where time needs to be invested.

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