Letter to the school board: Open up the superintendent search process and share your thinking

April 30, 2010
by Susan Wiseman

To The School Board: 

I have always been a strong supporter of the Board, impressed with the intelligent deliberative quality of the members of the Board and their commitment to the quality of the education being offered in our District. You can only imagine how disturbed I am by the methodology being utilized in the current search for a new superintendent. There seems to be a complete disregard for the views of the community (i.e., the people who are paying the taxes that pay the salaries of the administrators). There appears to be a hidden agenda. Without a more open discussion of the process and the underlying reasoning by the Board, we are left with nothing more than rumors. 

One such rumor is that there is a desire to hire Lyn McKay and the entire process is intended to support this decision. I have heard that Ms. McKay is preferred because she is viewed as loyal to the Board and will handle upcoming negotiations with the teachers’ union in a way that is viewed as favorable to the views supported by the Board.  If this is in fact true, then let us have an open discussion about her merits for this job.  Perhaps she is an amazingly qualified candidate. But can her candidacy be considered in a vacuum?

What if there is a more qualified candidate ready, able and willing to assume this position? Shouldn’t we at least be talking to him or her?  Why does the Board not support the notion of a committee to oversee this process?  How can this hurt our district? 

I have heard that the Board is concerned that there will not be enough time to conduct a thorough search outside the district. Why can’t we hire an interim superintendent (say someone like Lyn McKay) and then continue searching?  If Ms. McKay is the best candidate for the job, wouldn’t she then get the job, but after an open, deliberative and exhaustive search?  What are the negatives to this approach and why can’t we have an open discussion about this? 

The community is owed an open, exhaustive search. The limited explanations provided by the Board to date do not answer the numerous questions being raised by the community. I do not believe the Board is acting in an arbitrary or careless fashion. They are members of this community, with children attending our schools and I believe that they have the best interests of their children and our children at heart. 

I have to believe that they deem this internal choice as in the best interests of the community. Why then not share the deliberative process with us; tell us why this is, in their view, the best choice. Respond directly to the calls for a more exhaustive search and a committee made up of a cross section of the interested parties. Open up the process, share the thinking, and allow us, as a community, to question, understand and voice our views.  Are we not owed this opportunity? 

Susan Wiseman