SJSD evaluating survey results as superintendent search moves forward

By Jazmine Knight

The St. Joseph School District continued discussions about a new superintendent at Monday’s board meeting at Troester Media Center.

During the meeting, the Missouri School Board Association (MSBA) presented results from a community survey and focus groups.

The survey garnered 673 responses from parents, teachers, community members, staff, students and more.

“The cool thing about it was that there were no surprises amongst the board. I mean, as we were looking through it, it was just a lot of validation,” said LaTonya Williams, school board president.

The survey helped the board identify some strengths and challenges within the district. Some strengths as identified by the community include dedicated teachers and staff, a student-centered focus and Hillyard Technical Center.

“We have teachers who unconditionally love our students, no matter where they come from,” one survey respondent said, according to the results document.

“Everyone knows how dedicated our staff are every day in our buildings to the schools and to the community. I mean, all of us knew it,” said Williams. “So it was just amazing, you know, to look on paper, you know, to know that all these other people also agree.”

On the other hand, negative community perception, recruitment and retention and student behavior and attendance were all challenges the district faces, according to survey takers.

Williams recognizes those concerns and says she doesn’t see them as challenges. Instead she sees them as issues the new superintendent and the board need to be addressed in order to move forward.

“I think it’ll be interesting to meet all these applicants … and get their ideas,” she said. “What are other districts doing? Are there any ideas other people have that we’re not thinking of.”

Applications for the position will open Oct. 16. For Williams, she’s looking forward to seeing a large number of qualified applicants who are ready to make a change.

Between now and October 16, MSBA will work on making final adjustments to the job description based on the community feedback.

Results show that having an approachable and accessible superintendent that displays integrity and ethics is important to the community.

“Our current superintendent is amazing at that,” Williams said. “We want a person that is also able to do that as well.”

Once applications close on December 1st, the board will review the candidate pool and select semi finalists for a December 12 zoom interview. From there, 3-5 finalists will be asked to create a short video to introduce themselves to the community.

“It’s easy to tell a lot from a person if a person is able to introduce himself and tell a little bit about themselves. And so it’s another way to bring in the community in order to engage them in the process,” said Williams.

Those videos will be released on December 16 with building tours and a final round of interviews on December 17.

During the interview process, the board plans to utilize presentations, scenario questions as well as predetermined and impromptu questions. Williams believes this is crucial because the superintendent is a big job with major components.

“Are they able to think on their feet? Are they able to get the information in the background in order to be able to come and present information that is extremely important in our individual district,” she said.

For the full survey results, visit the district website.