The Seattle School District No. 1 Board of Directors held a special virtual meeting to interview three executive search firms — Ray and Associates, McPherson & Jacobson, and HYA — as part of the district’s superintendent search process. President Top opened the April special meeting and said, “This special meeting tonight though, is to conduct interviews of 3 executive search firms.”

The presentations and director Q&A focused on each firm’s proposed timeline, plans for community engagement and stakeholder surveys, candidate recruitment and vetting methods, retention guarantees, and costs. The board set a submission deadline for interview scoring sheets: directors must send completed scores to the board office by April 22 for tabulation and review at the board’s April 23 meeting; the board will select a firm for formal action at the regular April 23 meeting.

Why it matters: the board is hiring a firm to run the search and recruit the next superintendent for Seattle Public Schools, a process the firms said requires extensive stakeholder outreach, confidentiality for candidates until finalists are named, and active national recruitment to build a diverse candidate pool.

Ray and Associates (presentation led by Steve Chestnut and Libra Ford) emphasized deep stakeholder listening, a five-stage process (board input; community engagement and profile development; recruitment; candidate pool development; candidate selection), and use of structured tools including a 31-quality assessment, an objective matrix for ranking candidates, and Spark Hire recorded video prompts for applicants. Libra Ford proposed a timeline that would start outreach in May, identify top candidates in June and aim for final selection in mid-July, with an interim appointment recommended if the board does not find a suitable candidate in the initial round. Ray and Associates said they offer a two-year placement guarantee and conduct background checks for finalists at no additional charge.

McPherson & Jacobson (presentation led by Dr. Stephen Louder with other consultants including Gustavo Baderas and Mary Alice Ushel) described a five-phase search customized to the board’s timeline, noted prior urban placements (Fresno, Albuquerque, Las Vegas among others), and said their process typically takes eight to 12 weeks but can be accelerated. McPherson & Jacobson stated an all-inclusive fee “not to exceed $45,500” for phases 1–5 (with optional additional services available), and offered a two-year placement guarantee: if a superintendent leaves within two years the firm will repeat the search for core costs only. The firm highlighted deep reference checks, targeted advertising (AASA, Education Week, NAfME and affinity organizations such as ALAS), and tools for stakeholder surveys and multilingual outreach.

HYA (presentation led by Makai Ali and Nancy Perez) stressed large-district experience, robust national recruitment infrastructure, and analytics-driven outreach. HYA proposed extensive on-the-ground community engagement in May and June, a leadership-profile-driven recruitment strategy, active outreach to sitting superintendents and cabinet leaders, and a selection/transition plan to place a superintendent with a mid-August start (allowing overlap with the outgoing superintendent). HYA described a pricing model tied to the superintendent’s compensation (30 percent of the superintendent’s compensation was stated in the HYA presentation) and pointed to retention statistics the firm reported for its placements.

Common themes and differences: all three firms prioritized community engagement and producing a leadership profile to guide recruitment; all three said they actively recruit nationally and aim to present a diverse candidate pool. Differences included proposed timelines (Ray suggested a mid‑July final selection as a target; McPherson & Jacobson referenced late June timelines and a not-to-exceed flat fee; HYA proposed a mid‑August start and a percentage-based fee), and the firms’ stated retention metrics and guarantees.

Board process and next steps: President Top and staff reminded directors that scoring rubrics were available in director inboxes and that procurement staff are available for technical questions. Directors were told to submit completed scoring sheets to the board office by April 22; scores will be tabulated for discussion at the board’s April 23 special meeting and the board will take formal action on firm selection at its April 23 regular meeting. President Top also announced three upcoming board engagement sessions for stakeholder input on the search: April 24 at Aki Kurose Middle School, April 30 at Denny International Middle School, and May 7 at Daniel Bagley Elementary School. The meeting recessed between interviews and adjourned at 7:11 p.m.

What was not decided: the board did not select a search firm or make any hiring decisions at this meeting. Directors asked clarifying questions but did not take formal votes during the session.

Quotes (selected):
"This special meeting tonight though, is to conduct interviews of 3 executive search firms," President Top said when calling the meeting to order.
"We want to bring you the superintendent that you deserve — your students, your staff, your community — we want to bring you the superintendent we possibly can," Steve Chestnut of Ray and Associates said during his presentation.
"If the person that you select leaves for any purpose or reason within the first 2 years, we would come back and do the search," a McPherson & Jacobson representative said when describing the firm's guarantee.

Ending: The board will review tabulated scores at a special board meeting on April 23 and is scheduled to consider formal board action on selecting a search firm at its regular board meeting on April 23. Stakeholder engagement sessions are scheduled in late April and early May to help shape the district’s leadership profile for the search.