Tonight the Tucson Unified School District Governing Board will consider the process they will use to hire the District’s next superintendent. Governing Board president Michael Hicks propose the process to be considered by the Board.
Hicks shared the detailed proposal last week with his fellow Board members seeking their input. Hicks said he crafted the proposal to include the participation of TUSD staff, parents, and other stakeholders.
The detailed proposal to be considered by the Board is part of a leadership plan Hicks offered his fellow Board members earlier this month. That plan received widespread support including the court appointed Special Master in the District’s desegregation case.
On Monday Hicks discussed the proposal with radio show host James T Harris. He told Harris that he had not received any negative feedback from any of the Board members.
TUSD Superintendent Selection Process – Proposal
The Tucson Unified School District Governing Board is committed to a superintendent hiring process that is transparent and inclusive. Already Board members have received valuable input from the community as to what their expectations are for the process. The following proposal is based on experience, input, and a desire to find the best possible candidate to lead our District into a bright future.
First, we must engage the services of Mr. Nicholas Clement. As our consultant, Mr. Clement would help with several steps of this proposed process:
● Consultant works with the Board office to gather input from site administrators, who are tasked to gather input from their site staff on what skills and attributes should be included in the superintendent job posting.
● Consultant summarizes input collected about the posting, and works with the Board to write the ad and place it in the appropriate venues. The consultant may also recruit applicants.
●Board will collectively appoint 2 members of a Citizen Advisory Committee, and each Board member then adds one member of their choice, for a total of seven. The Committee would work with Consultant to evaluate the applicants. The Committee is tasked only with offering an evaluation of each candidate’s strengths and weaknesses.
● Consultant organizes the Committee to produce its evaluations. Consultant would bring applications and the Committee’s assessments to the Board.
● Consultant would arrange for the finalists to meet the Citizen Advisory Committee and subsequently collect its comments.
● The Board will interview a short list of candidates and then chooses 2-3 finalists.
● In conjunction with the Board office, Consultant would coordinate forums: one forum for site administrators, one for teachers and parents, and one for the general public. At each forum, participants will be allowed to submit written questions at the beginning and comments at the end.
● Consultant would compile results, and present them to the Board for consideration.
● The Board may then choose to continue discussions and open negotiations with one or more finalists. Prior to officially appointing the superintendent, contract negotiations will be completed.