Consultants present leadership profile for Gresham‑Barlow superintendent search after outreach to about 200 stakeholders
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Summary
HYA presented a leadership profile summarizing input from roughly 200 stakeholders that emphasizes four traits for the next superintendent—strong communication, visible relationship building, student‑centered focus, and instructional leadership—while noting low participation in some focus groups and uneven student survey responses.
Consultants hired to support Gresham‑Barlow School District’s superintendent search told the board Dec. 18 that input from roughly 200 stakeholders produced a leadership profile the board can use to evaluate candidates.
The search firm, identified in the report as HYA, said the feedback includes strengths—financial stability, community support, low staff turnover—and recurring challenges, most notably internal communication and the speed at which misinformation can spread on social media. The consultants said those themes appeared across stakeholder groups and recommended using the report as a guide for candidate screening and goal‑setting with the eventual superintendent.
On page 20 of the report, consultants distilled the findings to four characteristics community members repeatedly sought in a new superintendent: "communication" (timely, accurate, clear and transparent), relationship building and visibility, a student‑centered and compassionate approach, and a strong instructional leader who is data‑driven and focused on closing opportunity gaps.
The presenters emphasized the report’s limitations. One HYA consultant said participation in several face‑to‑face focus groups was "extremely low," and the team noted uneven student survey completion across high schools. Consultant Mike reported very low high‑school survey response at some sites and said Ray Academy recorded zero survey completions; because of that, the consultants warned against drawing firm cross‑school comparisons from the student data.
Board members asked how HYA derived the four top characteristics and whether the report’s party‑specific perceptions might reflect communication gaps rather than differences in services. The consultants said administrators tend to rate district performance higher than parents and students and recommended the next superintendent examine both what is communicated and how it is delivered.
Consultants told the board the full report and raw data will be posted to the district website under the superintendent search section as soon as possible. The board then moved to executive session to discuss employment of a public officer.
