Washington Elementary board launches superintendent search, sets outreach and interview timeline
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Summary
The Washington Elementary School District governing board on Jan. 22 retained McPherson & Jacobson to run a superintendent search, agreed candidate priorities and a public engagement plan, and set a timeline that includes stakeholder outreach, semifinalist vetting and finalist interviews in March–April.
The Washington Elementary School District governing board on Thursday opened a special study session with consultants McPherson & Jacobson to begin a formal search for a new superintendent.
Consultant Steve Joel told the board the firm will post the vacancy quickly, run national outreach and accept applications for roughly 4½ weeks, with a tentative application closing date of March 2. "We'll send out an immediate notification to about 4,000 registered ed leaders around the country," Joel said, describing the firm’s recruitment reach.
The board and consultants agreed a two-part public-engagement plan: a day of in-person stakeholder meetings to collect qualitative input from teachers, classified staff, parents, students and community partners, plus an online survey the consultants will run for about 10 days. The district will support outreach by placing the survey link on its website, pushing notices through ParentSquare (which offers translations) and using QR codes at parent-teacher conferences, staff said.
Board members prioritized a compact set of candidate qualifications to include in the job posting and to probe in interviews. Vice President Lindsay Peterson said educational experience "is a must," and the board repeatedly emphasized a student-centered focus, cultural competency, strong community engagement and financial and operational competence. Bill Adams stressed the need for a leader who can both "protect" the district financially and be visible to families; other board members added visionary, change-management and relationship-building skills.
Consultants recommended consolidating overlapping traits into 4–8 posting bullets and turning more nuanced items (for example, collective teacher efficacy or transformational leadership) into targeted interview questions. Jennifer Tanner described the standard three questions the firm asks each stakeholder group: what is going well, what needs improvement, and what traits the district wants in its next superintendent.
On process, the board discussed closed-door vetting of semifinalists (reference checks and confidential interviews) followed by public-facing forums for finalists. The consultants proposed a March window for bringing semifinalists and suggested a special meeting on March 16 to receive the stakeholder report and conduct related business, with finalist interviews tentatively scheduled for April 1 and a board decision projected for the week of April 13.
The board also asked the consultants to review the current superintendent contract and advised that compensation discussions likely be conducted in executive session. Staff and consultants agreed to provide the posting draft, survey links, QR codes and a proposed interview rubric to the board in advance for review.
The session began with a brief procedural vote to adopt the Jan. 22 special meeting agenda and concluded with a motion to adjourn at 9:16 p.m. The consultants will return to present stakeholder findings and recommended finalists according to the timeline discussed.
Next steps: consultants will finalize the posting and survey materials, the district will help distribute the QR codes and survey notices at parent-teacher conferences, and the board will submit any suggested posting bullets and interview questions to President Kyle Clayton for incorporation into the final recruitment materials.