Christina School District and Ray and Associates set timeline, survey and stakeholder plan for superintendent search

At a Jan. 31 virtual workshop, Ray and Associates outlined a proposed timeline and procedures for the Christina School District superintendent search, including a districtwide online survey, stakeholder meetings, candidate screening and recommended advertising venues.

The consulting team said the districts online survey of 31 candidate qualities would be hosted through SurveyMonkey and translated into Spanish and Arabic (the team also agreed to add Chinese if requested). The consultants proposed opening the boardlevel survey immediately and making the general stakeholder survey available in early February. Ray and Associates suggested opening the application on Feb. 7 and closing it on March 16 to allow screening and first-round interviews in late March, with finalists named in early April if the district approves the schedule.

The search consultants said the SurveyMonkey instrument asks respondents to choose the top 10 of 31 qualities; survey responses and open-ended comments would be compiled by the firm and shown to the board to help draft a final candidate profile. "The most important decision that you'll make being a board member is looking at superintendents and hiring the right person for kids," Ray and Associates consultant Dr. Michael Rush said.

Consultants described stakeholder meetings as a two-part engagement: (1) the online survey and (2) in-person or virtual listening sessions for staff, teachers, parents, students and community members. Board members were asked not to attend stakeholder meetings so participants could speak candidly. The team said it can run simultaneous sessions across multiple district sites and will provide sample schedules and promotional materials; the districts public information officer will coordinate local outreach.

On candidate processing, consultants described a multistage screen: administrative review of applications, phone reference checks and internet/social-media screening, followed by Spark Hire video responses for screened candidates (four standard questions, 90 seconds per answer). Ray and Associates said it performs background checks for the top finalists (the firms check reaches back seven years and verifies education and criminal records) and recommended the district run its own required state background checks as well.

Recruitment and advertising options discussed included AASA and Education Week listings and other professional outlets; consultants said they will distribute the opportunity through their national network and recommended the district use social media and the districts own channels. The consultants recommended posting a salary range in promotional materials, with language that final pay will be based on qualifications and board criteria.

Board members raised scheduling and staffing concerns, urging contingency plans for snow days and staff shortages and stressing the importance of broad stakeholder input. Monica Moriac said she was "concerned about that timing from an internal standpoint" and asked that stakeholder meetings not overburden staff. Consultants said dates presented were flexible and that Bob Baca and district leadership would confirm a final schedule.

The workshop closed with a near-term direction: the districts acting superintendent (Dr. Andrzejewski), district contact Bob Baca and public information officer Latasha Johnson will meet Monday to finalize logistical details and notify Ray and Associates of any necessary adjustments to the proposed timeline.