Superintendent search on agenda for school board Tuesday

By Jazmine Knight

The St. Joseph school board held a work session to discuss a timeline for hiring its next superintendent.

This comes after current superintendent, Gabe Edgar, announced his retirement earlier this year.

The board is working in collaboration with the Missouri School Boards’ Association, the firm hired to help with the search.

LaTonya Williams, school board president, says this meeting was mainly to map out a game plan for the future. The district is looking to choose a candidate right before this Christmas.

They will start the process with sending out a survey approximately September 9th. The district invites community members, parents, teachers, etc. to fill it out. The survey will ask questions regarding district highlights and challenges as well as what the public wants to see within a candidate. More specifically, what personal traits or professional experience should the candidate have. Additionally, an advice/suggestion section will also be included.

“Take the survey,” Williams said. “I think that the more input everyone gives, it will be easier to help us make a decision.”

She says the decision should be community driven and community led which is why the public’s input is so important. The survey is expected to close on September 23rd.

After that, SJSD plans to host some community engagement events, inviting residents to voice their opinions/questions regarding the superintendent search. While dates, times and locations are still being determined, Williams says the information in the survey and this community engagement event will be used to formulate questions for candidates.

“It will give everybody an opportunity, if you were not a part of the surveys online, to come and to let your concerns be addressed, or to get your questions answered,” said Williams.

SJSD plans on hosting approximately three community engagement sessions to cater to multiple regions in St. Joseph. Translators will be provided for non English speakers as well.

From there, applications are set to open October 16th and close on December 1st. December 4th, the district will review candidates. On December 12th, the board will host screening interview for candidates to narrow down the pool to about four to seven candidates. Lastly on December 17th, two to three candidates will undergo a formal interview process which will include building tours with current superintendent, Gabe Edgar. The school board will also have separate time to interview each candidate shortly after.

“It’s important to build a connection in order to build a rapport,” said Williams.

During formal interviews, this is the candidate’s opportunity to ask questions for the board or Dr. Edgar. Williams mentions how the district will be working with this individual for months and years to come so it’s important to establish a connection early.

For qualifications, the district decided to widen their pool of candidates by allowing applicants to have three years of administrative or district experience instead of only allowing three years of superintendent experience.

“In our state there’s lots of brand new superintendents, and we don’t want to narrow our pool or cut out an amazing candidate over the lack of experience,” said Williams.

Applicants must also have a doctorate degree and must be able to carry out future district agendas.

The chosen candidate would then be required to serve a three year contract with a projected compensation of $234,210. This would include approximately $500 for district travel, 20 PTO days and relocation assistance.

Final candidates will also be instructed to submit introduction videos that will be shared via the St. Joseph School District. These videos will give candidates a chance to introduce themselves to the community.

“It will help the community connect more and create more of a bond in order to get to know that person as well,” Williams said.

She hopes with community engagement and connection, the new superintendent will easily transition into their new role.

“After the candidate arrives, I mean, we’re not going to be strangers because at that level, we’ve already created a bond, already created a connection. And so it’ll be an easier transition than not.” she said.

For more information on the superintendent search, visit the district website at www.sjsd.k12.mo.us/.