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Stamford board unanimously selects Zeal Education Group to lead superintendent search
Summary
The Stamford School District board unanimously recommended Zeal Education Group to run the district’s superintendent search, citing the firm’s multilingual engagement tools, transition supports and governance training. Andy George will serve as the board’s interim contact with the firm.
The Stamford School District board on Nov. 25 announced it had selected Zeal Education Group to lead the district’s search for a new superintendent, voting to accept the search committee’s unanimous recommendation.
Betsy Dow, a member of the ad hoc search committee, said the committee interviewed three firms and decided Zeal stood out for “inclusive engagement” and a transparent, data-informed process. Dow said Zeal uses ThoughtExchange, a multilingual engagement platform, and that the firm will provide long-term transition support including governance training for the board and executive coaching for the incoming superintendent. She named members of the Zeal team who will be involved: founder and CEO Jeff Melendez, Dr. Leslie Torres Rodriguez and attorney Steven Hernandez.
Several committee members praised the process as collaborative. One member said the committee voted 9–0 on the recommendation. The board noted the ad hoc committee’s work is complete and appointed board member Andy George to serve as the board’s lead contact with Zeal during the transition until the newly seated board organizes personnel committees. Mayor Caroline Simmons was mentioned as expected to participate on the personnel committee once the new board is in place.
The board said Zeal will begin community engagement in December and work with individual board members to shape the search rubric and candidate profile. No contract text or dollar amount for the search engagement was discussed on the record during the meeting; the ad hoc committee’s charge was closed and the district said further details would be communicated as the new board takes office.
The selection follows a months-long process the committee described as rigorous and oriented toward stakeholder input and transparency. The board indicated the search firm will start outreach in December and deliver regular updates to the board.
The board adjourned the search committee portion of the meeting and moved to public comment and other agenda items.
