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HYA outlines confidential superintendent search timeline; survey and community forum set this week
Summary
Hazard, Young & Associates (HYA) told the Mount Vernon board Feb. 4 that the superintendent search will use anonymous focus groups, a stakeholder survey (open through Feb. 7), a community forum and a leadership profile; the firm plans to present a slate of candidates in late March and target a public announcement April 15.
Ed McCormick and Karen Larkin of Hazard, Young & Associates (HYA), the board's search consultants, described the firm’s search process and timeline at the Feb. 4 meeting and answered trustees' questions about confidentiality, advertising and background checks.
McCormick, who said HYA has conducted about 1,600 superintendent searches over 30 years, told the board the firm is now in the engagement phase: focus groups, a stakeholder survey and community forums to shape a leadership profile. Karen Larkin said the firm is asking all constituency groups to complete a survey and attend focus groups so the leadership profile reflects district priorities; she said the survey is available in English and Spanish.
HYA provided this timeline in the meeting: the stakeholder survey runs through Feb. 7; the leadership profile will be presented Feb. 13; the board will be presented a slate of candidates March 24; initial interviews are scheduled for March 29; finalist interviews April 5; and HYA targets a public announcement of the preferred candidate around April 15. McCormick said the preferred candidate would undergo a deep background check before public announcement and that the board had authorized optional background packages at the start of the search.
McCormick emphasized confidentiality during the applicant phase: focus-group and survey responses will be aggregated and reported by group, not by name, and the list of candidates will be kept confidential until the board selects finalists. He described the planned background check as comprehensive (news/social media, criminal, financial) and said the final report would be stored with the district attorney as a sensitive document.
Trustees asked several procedural questions: how advertising packages work (HYA said options range from about $600 to $6,000 and a typical package was presented for board approval), whether the search timeline and contract would be posted on the district website (HYA said the timeline and public-facing materials will be posted; trustees requested the contract be posted when finalized), and whether the deep background check would be performed "at the will of the board" (McCormick: board approval covers that optional expense).
Why it matters: Hiring a superintendent shapes district strategy and budgets. HYA told the board it will make reports to the full board and post process updates to a public timeline; the firm said it will not alter or sanitize stakeholder input.
The board public forum on the search was announced for the week following the meeting (HYA said the community forum would be held the next night at the district's former Homeschool facility).
