Framingham officials aim to pick new school chief by February
Scott O'Connell/Daily News staff
School officials hope to choose a new superintendent before February break, several weeks ahead of a preliminary schedule discussed last month.
"It's an ambitious timeline," School Committee chairwoman Beverly Hugo said.
The extra weeks, she said, will provide more of a cushion than the mid-March target suggested by school administrators earlier this school year.
Officials want to have a new leader in place by July 1, a day after current Superintendent Steven Hiersche's contract expires. Hiersche has said he intends to step down to seek new work after this academic year.
A school board task force, working with the district's search consultant, Future Management Systems of Beverly, has already taken care of several preliminary steps, including posting job advertisements both inside and outside the district. All in-house candidates must submit applications before the end of the month, Hugo said.
"We do have several staff who have, or have applied for, a superintendent license," Hugo said. "We're going to see who applies and who's qualified."
Future Management Systems has already received several applications, she said.
Officials will begin collecting comments from focus groups of staff, parents and students today and tomorrow. School Committee member Carol Phalen said about 100 people have been invited to participate.
For the rest of the public, there is a survey on the district's website, framingham.k12.ma.us, Phalen said. Printed copies of the questionnaire will be available at each of the schools, and possibly at other locations like the library and town offices.
Officials will be using both formats to ask residents what kind of qualities they want the next superintendent to have. Their answers will form a leadership profile that will be made available to the public, Phalen said.
Next month, Hugo said she expects the school board to announce the formation of a screening committee, which will serve as the primary advisory panel for the rest of the search.
This year's process will incorporate several new features that weren't used in the search that yielded Hiersche's hire three years ago, Hugo said. The board plans to visits the finalists' districts, for example, which is a vetting step recommended by consultants. Officials will also administer psychological tests to candidates to ensure they can handle the responsibility of leading Framingham's large, complex education system.
Committee members have also considered putting finalists through a budgeting exam to test their financial acumen, Hugo said.
"Some of these things we're still vetting and going over," she said.
Officials have said they want this search to be as thorough and efficient as possible to bring in the right candidate.
"We're very excited," Phalen said. "We have a great district here and a great community."
(Scott O'Connell can be reached at 508-626-4449 or soconnell@wickedlocal.com.)