The Haines school board on Tuesday approved paying the Alaska Association of School Boards $7,000 to lead it through its next superintendent hire.
The district’s last superintendent – Ginger Jewell – worked less than a year before landing another superintendent’s job in Georgia.
Board member Sara Chapell compared the upcoming hire to Jewell’s. “We did okay, but (the hiring process) places a lot of extra work on staff, the board and the district office. I’m hoping we do a better job next time. I want to do the best job possible this time around.”
Interim superintendent Rich Carlson, who also served as an interim superintendent during a superintendent hire in Cordova, told the board that the Alaska group was “very responsive.” “I think they wound up with a good couple candidates.”
The board received a similar search proposal from McPherson & Jacobson, a Nebraska-based recruitment firm, but members expressed confidence that the AASB would be more knowledgeable of the district and potential candidates.
AASB’s “full-service superintendent search process” includes assisting with developing an action plan, identifying selection criteria, the recruitment process, screening, reference checks, selection of finalists, the interview process, and timelines.
After the hire, AASB also would hold a workshop “to help identify expectations, clarify responsibilities and develop priorities.”
AASB also offered a “do-it-yourself” search package for $1,500.
Carlson has been hired for six months, due in part to limitations placed on his employment as a retired former superintendent in Alaska. The board may ask the state to extend Carlson’s employment to one year, if it’s still searching for candidates.
Chapell said she didn’t “really want to hire someone mid-year,” saying it was better for students and staff to have as little turnover as possible and that the best pool of applicants may not be available at mid-year.
Carlson said he would be concerned about publicly expressing that the district wasn’t looking to make the hire at mid-year, but that in Cordova the position was advertised as available Feb. 1 but no later than July 1.
“We can phrase it in a way that we’re continuing to search for a superintendent,” said board chair Anne Marie Palmieri.
Carlson said the first meeting with the group would likely involve asking locally what characteristics and qualities people were looking for in a superintendent. “Then they look at timelines.”
The first meetings between the board and AASB representatives is set for Sept. 28-29.