There is little time to waste for the Spotsylvania County School Board in its search for a new superintendent.
The board met with consulting firm BWP & Associates during a special meeting Wednesday night and was given a date of June 17 to announce a new chief of the school division.
Community and staff engagement activities will begin April 16, as the board moves forward in landing a replacement for Mark Taylor, who was fired last month. Initial interviews will take place June 3, followed by another round of discussions with finalists on June 10.
“We do have a very aggressive timeline,” Courtland District representative Carol Medawar said. “I think that’s a good thing. I think it’s going to be a challenge.”
The board voted in March to use the Illinois-based BWP & Associates to conduct the search.
Wednesday’s meeting was the public’s introduction to the firm, which has conducted more than 800 superintendent searches nationwide, including many in Virginia.
Board members April Gillespie of the Berkeley District and Lisa Phelps of the Lee Hill District were absent from the meeting. The pair has been either absent, late or departed early from 10 out of 11 board meetings held since January.
The BWP & Associates representatives who met with the board, Kevin Castner and Wayne Harris, are former school chiefs in Virginia.
Castner served as the Albemarle County superintendent for 12 years, while Harris held the same position with Roanoke City Public Schools for 11 years until he retired in 2004.
Harris also spent 25 years in Fairfax County as an area superintendent, where he oversaw 40 schools. Since his retirement, he’s worked as the director of the Virginia Tech Schools Leadership Institute.
Harris informed the board that the institute trained 900 school leaders from around the state. Sixty-three of those individuals became superintendents and 43 are still operating in that role. All but three work in Virginia.
“That’s important for you to know, because it means that Kevin and I have a direct connection with superintendents in Virginia and throughout the region and the country,” Harris said. “It gives us the best opportunity to find the best candidate who is a match and fit for what you’re looking for in your next superintendent in Spotsylvania County.”
Board Chair Lorita Daniels polled the five present board members and they agreed to offer a regionally competitive salary to the next superintendent. They also agreed that the hire must live in Spotsylvania or the surrounding area.
The board agreed to a confidential search, meaning none of the names of interviewees will be leaked to the public to protect them from any backlash at their current job.
Board members also agreed to allow BWP & Associates to specifically recruit minorities by sharing the job announcement with the National Association of Black Educators and a similar network of Latino educators.
“We find that by using this advertising plan, we are able to attract a diverse pool of candidates to really match your district,” Castner said. “You have a cosmopolitan district, as you know, so we would like to have a candidate pool that is representative of your district.”
The search firm representatives noted that Spotsylvania is the 12th largest school division in Virginia. They also noted that only 2% of school divisions nationwide have more than 20,000 students. Spotsylvania has nearly 24,000.
“Many of the school districts have less than 5,000,” Castner said. “There are a whole different set of administrative skills for those districts that aren’t as comprehensive and as metropolitan as yours.”
An online survey will be available to the public from April 15-22. The deadline for applications is May 24. The search firm will present recommended candidates to the board on May 27.
The board was instructed to come up with a list of stakeholders to be interviewed by the firm on April 16-17. Four open community forums at locations to be determined will also be a part of the engagement process.
The firm will only ask stakeholders three questions: the strengths of the division, the challenges it faces, and the qualities and characteristics sought in the next superintendent. All other inquiries should be emailed to the firm.
Daniels also stressed the importance of student engagement.
“I think the community is ready to move forward,” Daniels said. “I’m here for it. I’m sure my colleagues are here for it, as well. So, I do look forward to this continued engagement.”
