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Three firms pitch superintendent search plans to Parma City Board
Summary
Three search consultants — Finding Leaders, K12 and the Ohio School Boards Association — outlined recruitment timelines, community engagement plans and costs at the Parma City School Board meeting March 6; the board scheduled a follow-up meeting to choose a firm.
Three consulting firms presented competing plans to run Parma City Schools’ superintendent search at the board’s March 6 meeting, emphasizing community engagement, candidate vetting and timelines.
Finding Leaders consultant Ed Vitardi told the board the firm centers relationships and community focus groups in its process and provides a full recruitment, vetting and contract-negotiation package. “The search fee normally is $15,900 and that all would be covered by the ESC of Northeastern Ohio,” Vitardi said, referring to a purchase arrangement through the Educational Service Center (ESC) that would eliminate the district fee if Parma uses that ESC agreement.
K12 representative Randy Buroff, a retired superintendent, described a similar community-engagement and recruiting model and said K12 would manage interviews, contract negotiations and post-hire goal-setting. He said K12’s fee for the search is $12,000.
Quinn Maseko of the Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA) said the OSBA process typically runs 60 to 90 days, includes focus groups and an online application portal called Relevus, and provides background checks for finalists through a vendor. Maseko described a leadership assessment called the “achiever” for finalists and said OSBA includes a new-leadership workshop with the search fee.
Board members asked about national recruiting reach, customization of the search process and fees. Vitardi and Buroff said they actively recruit candidates and tailor the search to the district’s profile; Maseko said OSBA’s network and Relevus distribution extend beyond Ohio but acknowledged out-of-state candidates can face licensing and funding-structure challenges.
After the presentations the board set a follow-up meeting for Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. to decide which firm to hire and how to proceed with the search.
