The Madison School Board intends to hire its new superintendent of schools by early February 2008, so he or she can learn the ropes before veteran Superintendent Art Rainwater retires at the end of June.
Board President Arlene Silveira announced a working schedule for the superintendent search this week. The board has been meeting throughout the summer with a consulting firm and now has mapped out dates and action items for naming the new administrator.
“We’re very comfortable with our consultants and with the process. Even so, I’m a little nervous about it,” she said this morning. “This is likely to be the most important thing we do as a board, and we’re taking it very seriously. Change is good, though, and it’s an exciting process.”
She said the process in Madison will include more public input than is typical in most communities looking for a new school superintendent.
“We’ll have two general community forums on September 19 and 20, and there will probably be 20 focus groups with everyone from advocacy groups, to our philanthropic partners, to the business community and staff members. If we made it any broader, we’d just be inviting names out of the phone book,” she laughed.
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I am very interested in learning more about this process. More specifically, I wonder if the consulting firm is taking steps to include as many voices as possible in this process. Will the voices of the parents, teachers, and school staff be heard? Maybe even students? Are members of our city government being encouraged to get involved? What about members of the community who are historically unheard at school board meetings, MMSD public meetings or forums – possibly because they have not felt welcomed or listened to, or they don’t speak English fluently, or because of logistical barriers due to lifestyles. Are any extra measures being taken to include these voices? This is a rare and critical opportunity to strengthen and open up lines of communication.
Where will the Sept 19 and 20 community forums be held and at what time? How will people find out about them? Is it possible to help people participate by making them easily accessible by offering transportation and/or childcare? When and how can we get more information about this process?