Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Superintendent Search topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Santa Fe board to engage Carroll Strategies for superintendent search outreach
Summary
The Santa Fe Public Schools board agreed Feb. 27 to hire Carroll Strategies to run community engagement for its superintendent search and to advertise the position, with staff aiming to issue a purchase order under $60,000 to begin the work.
The Santa Fe Public Schools Board of Education on Feb. 27 directed staff to engage Carroll Strategies to lead community outreach as the district begins a search for a permanent superintendent, Superintendent Veronica C. Garcia said.
Board members said they want broad public input on the qualities they should seek in a superintendent and to run the search “open until filled” so the district can move quickly when a qualified candidate appears.
Board members and district staff said Carroll Strategies would gather community input through several public forums — including sessions in Spanish and meetings for district employees, parents, students and site-based staff — and produce an aggregated report of themes the board can use to finalize qualifications before advertising the position. Garcia said the firm’s contract would be under $60,000 and that staff expect to issue a purchase order to start the work promptly.
"I think that we should engage with Carroll Strategies to help put that community involvement piece," Vice President Noble said during the discussion, urging a process that runs in parallel with drafting the job announcement. "We did a very good job last time ... it would be wonderful to get some extra validation from the community."
Superintendent Veronica C. Garcia described the proposed timeline and process, saying district staff would provide the board with materials from the district’s 2021 search to inform the current work and that Carroll Strategies would hold multiple forums and produce a summary of priorities. "They would have some forums with parents and community, probably four in the district. We'll have a couple in Spanish, a forum with district employees, a forum with site-based folks, students," Garcia said.
Garcia said the district previously completed a candidate-scoring spreadsheet in 2021 and that board members would be able to provide individual input to Carroll Strategies; the firm would aggregate board and community feedback into a set of recommended qualifications. The board agreed to treat the search as a standing agenda item going forward and to review and refine materials at future meetings.
Board members did not conduct a roll-call vote on hiring Carroll Strategies; the discussion ended with the board expressing unanimous agreement to proceed and Garcia saying staff would issue a purchase order because the contract is expected to be under $60,000. Garcia said any final hiring decisions naming individual candidates would follow applicable public-meeting rules; candidate-specific deliberations would move to executive session as required.
What happens next: Garcia said staff will contact Carroll Strategies and arrange one-on-one or small-group briefings with board members so the vendor can aggregate board priorities along with community input. The board scheduled the superintendent selection process as a recurring agenda item to allow ongoing review.
