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Consultant releases leadership profile for Rock Hill superintendent search; community wants stability and a student-centered focus
Summary
Zeal, the search firm assisting Rock Hill Schools, presented a leadership profile drawn from more than 1,300 community contributions and interviews. The report highlights community priorities: character and integrity, addressing teacher shortages, academic focus, visible community engagement and student mental health support.
Zeal, the executive search firm retained by the Rock Hill School District, presented a leadership profile to trustees on April 8 based on stakeholder interviews, focus groups and a thought-exchange survey.
Jeff Mendez, Zeal’s CEO, said the firm engaged roughly 279 stakeholders in interviews and focus groups and captured about 1,100 written ideas and 22,000 reactions in the thought-exchange process. The profile identifies district strengths — dedicated staff, community support and diversity — and immediate challenges such as staffing shortages, communication and budget/resource allocation.
The top priorities the community named for the next superintendent were improving student achievement, strengthening communication and accountability, supporting the arts and addressing teacher retention. The five highest-rated traits from the thought-exchange responses were: character and integrity, addressing the teacher shortage, providing stable leadership (reducing frequent superintendent turnover), placing students and teachers first, and supporting teachers’ working conditions.
Mendez said Zeal will close applications on April 20 and expects to screen candidates and recommend a slate of semifinalists to the board. The consultant proposed semifinal interviews on May 13, final interviews on May 15 with community meet-and-greet sessions that evening, and a board deliberation in executive session on May 16; the board chair said trustees will calibrate the timeline to ensure all board members can attend. Zeal will post the full leadership profile and application instructions on its website and on national education job boards.
Board members thanked stakeholders for participation and asked staff to post the full profile and application materials publicly. Zeal said the profile and application will be available on its microsite for the Rock Hill search and on national outlets such as AASA.
