In groups of four or five, community members were tasked with finding single words that would describe their ideal school superintendent.
The exercise was intended to focus thoughts, and for the residents gathered in the first few center rows of auditorium seats at the Newark High School, it seemed to be working. Their one-words descriptors included communicator, longevity, forward thinker and innovative — these residents want someone who is going to think creatively to grow the district, someone with vision and someone who can build relationships with the community whether he or she lives here or not. They also believed it was important their next superintendent have experience in the field and also as a principal, that it’s less important that he or she was once a teacher and not important where he or she might live.
This type of data collection is just the first step for Stephen Uebbing and Tim McElheran, from the Warner School of Education at the University of Rochester, as the search for a new superintendent begins for the Newark School District. Current Superintendent Henry Hann announced his decision to retire at the February school board meeting. Uebbing and McElheran, both former superintendents in Canandaigua and Victor, respectively, will be guiding the Newark school board through the process of finding its next superintendent. Already they have begun reading through the 150 surveys submitted by residents; ads have been placed online and letters sent out to every school district north of New York City with the goal of getting at least 30 applicants.
“It’s a time of change,” McElheran said. “It’s certainly a time of challenge, but it’s also an opportunity for your school district to hire someone who can lead you for several years to come.”
Finding a superintendent isn’t as easy. Candidate pools are shallow, McElheran said, largely due to the immense scope of the job. The most recent study of school districts shows that superintendents are older now at time of hire, on average 48, and are retiring earlier, around age 60, McElheran said. Of the 25 districts in Wayne-Finger Lakes BOCES, 14 have had their superintendent retire within the last few years, McElheran said, and nine of those 14 districts have hired a woman as their new district leader.
The study also found that most superintendents only stay about five years, McElheran said, and will change districts two to three times in their career to move up to a larger school district.
The $120,000 salary Newark offers won’t draw superintendents away from a district they like, Uebbing said, but he still expects to get applicants with district leadership experience, as well as a few principals looking to move up the administrative ladder.
In groups of four or five, community members were tasked with finding single words that would describe their ideal school superintendent.
The exercise was intended to focus thoughts, and for the residents gathered in the first few center rows of auditorium seats at the Newark High School, it seemed to be working. Their one-words descriptors included communicator, longevity, forward thinker and innovative — these residents want someone who is going to think creatively to grow the district, someone with vision and someone who can build relationships with the community whether he or she lives here or not. They also believed it was important their next superintendent have experience in the field and also as a principal, that it’s less important that he or she was once a teacher and not important where he or she might live.
This type of data collection is just the first step for Stephen Uebbing and Tim McElheran, from the Warner School of Education at the University of Rochester, as the search for a new superintendent begins for the Newark School District. Current Superintendent Henry Hann announced his decision to retire at the February school board meeting. Uebbing and McElheran, both former superintendents in Canandaigua and Victor, respectively, will be guiding the Newark school board through the process of finding its next superintendent. Already they have begun reading through the 150 surveys submitted by residents; ads have been placed online and letters sent out to every school district north of New York City with the goal of getting at least 30 applicants.
“It’s a time of change,” McElheran said. “It’s certainly a time of challenge, but it’s also an opportunity for your school district to hire someone who can lead you for several years to come.”
Finding a superintendent isn’t as easy. Candidate pools are shallow, McElheran said, largely due to the immense scope of the job. The most recent study of school districts shows that superintendents are older now at time of hire, on average 48, and are retiring earlier, around age 60, McElheran said. Of the 25 districts in Wayne-Finger Lakes BOCES, 14 have had their superintendent retire within the last few years, McElheran said, and nine of those 14 districts have hired a woman as their new district leader.
The study also found that most superintendents only stay about five years, McElheran said, and will change districts two to three times in their career to move up to a larger school district.
The $120,000 salary Newark offers won’t draw superintendents away from a district they like, Uebbing said, but he still expects to get applicants with district leadership experience, as well as a few principals looking to move up the administrative ladder.
With the data they collect from residents and the board, Uebbing and McElheran will put together a profile of what the Newark community wants to see in their next superintendent. They will review the applicants, all of which will be presented to the board, but they will offer recommendations for their top picks. The board must then choose eight to 10 candidates to interview, after which initial background checks will be done, all confidentially, Uebbing said. Once interviews are complete, the board will pick their final candidates for a second interview.
A superintendent’s job is to carry out the policies put forth by the school board, Uebbing said, so it is vital he or she works well with the board.
“Education is about relationships, it’s about cooperation,” Uebbing said. “A superintendent is successful when everybody rallies around them and supports them.”
