Search for Next Superintendent Takes Center Stage Tonight

Three weeks from today, will likely have a new leader.

The search to replace takes center stage starting at 7 tonight when Board of Education members meet to approve an initial list of candidates to interview for the position.

Interviews will take place over the next two weeks, and board members are expected to make their decision by March 28. All of the interviews and discussion are open to the public.

Here's what the board is searching for in a new superintendent, according to a profile board members adopted last month. The profile was developed with the help of School Exec Connect, a search firm, and compiled from the findings of an online survey and a series of focus groups earlier this year.

According to a report by the search firm, the new superintendent should be:

• A visionary instructional leader
• A collaborative consensus builder
• A child-centered advocate for excellence
• A highly visible leader
• A strategic thinker with integrity
• Someone with first line experience
• Have knowledge of implementing technology
• Be current in curriculum and best practices
• Have experience in effective budgeting
• Have solid collective-bargaining knowledge

Across all the groups, the consensus was that the next superintendent should be a good communicator, be a visible part of the community and be a student-centered leader that can face economic challenges while maintaining excellence in education.

About 90 people attended focus groups and 938 people responded to the online survey. Focus groups attendees included:

• seven Board of Education members
• 16 members of the Rochester Education Association Leadership
• 11 members of the Rochester community
• one Rochester Schools staff member
• 17 members of the Rochester PTA Council
• 13 union leaders
• 15 members of TEAM Rochester
• 10 members of the Administrative Center

“We thought we had good participation,” said Dr. Carol Klenow of the consulting firm School Exec Connect, hired by the board to assist in the superintendent search.  All the data collected by the search firm is available here on the district website.