BWP outlines superintendent search plan for Richland 1, emphasizing community engagement

BWP and Associates consultants Dr. Deborah Hill and Dr. Kevin Kastner presented a four-step superintendent search plan to the Richland 1 School District Board of Commissioners on Feb. 18, 2025, at the Stevenson Administration Building in Columbia.

The consultants told the board the process will emphasize community engagement, data-driven candidate screening and confidentiality. "The intent is that this will be a transparent process," Dr. Deborah Hill said, and she described multiple ways residents, staff and students can provide input. The firm recommended a 30-day advertising window and a timeline that would allow a new superintendent to begin by July 1, 2025, with candidate interviews in May and a likely application cut-off in April.

BWP outlined four phases: develop specifications and a leadership profile from stakeholder input; recruit applicants nationally and by targeted outreach; assess and vet candidates; and support the board through selection and onboarding. The firm plans public forums, stakeholder focus groups, and a quantitative community survey hosted on SurveyMonkey. "Our goal is to have 1,500 to 2,000 people take the survey in the district your size," Hill said, adding the firm will also accept longer written comments by email and use virtual means to broaden participation.

Consultants said focus groups will be kept small and anonymous to encourage candid feedback; they recommended groups of about 12–15 people and said board members should not attend focus-group sessions so participants feel comfortable speaking freely. The consultants said outreach will include national and specialty outlets (EdWeek, AASA) and targeted networks (Black and Latino organizations) to attract a broad candidate pool. Kastner said BWP will also actively headhunt candidates who may not be actively looking for a job.

On vetting, the firm said it conducts deeper reference checks, media and social-media searches and recommends background checks that can include driving records and bankruptcy searches. BWP said it will present a short list of recommended applicants to the board rather than the full applicant pool and that materials for finalists would be handled as board documents to maintain confidentiality.

Board members asked detailed questions about methods and safeguards. Commissioners sought clarification on how objective measures (district academic data, program inventories) would be combined with community opinions; the consultants said they would use frequency-distribution analysis to combine quantitative survey results and qualitative focus-group responses into a leadership profile and a ranked list of district priorities. The consultants also noted they provide post-placement support for a year and said they have, in the past, agreed to re-run searches at cost if a placed candidate does not complete two years.

The board indicated informal consensus support for a 30-day ad plan; the chair said staff would return to the consultants with calendar details. No formal vote to hire or contract with BWP appears in the meeting record. The consultants asked the board to identify stakeholders for focus groups and to approve the survey language and announcement timeline in coming weeks.

The board was told the next regularly scheduled meeting will be Feb. 25, 2025, and consultants said they will follow up with staff to finalize survey and calendar details.