By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer
The search for a new superintendent for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools is officially underway, with the selection by the school board earlier this month of the North Carolina School Board Association as the district’s superintendent search agency.
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education will hold its first meeting with NCSBA on Friday to discuss the search process and strategy.
At its Oct. 7 meeting, the board heard proposals from NCSBA and Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates, the top candidates in a pool of applicants. Board members voted 4-2 to choose NCSBA, citing the firm’s experience working successfully with other districts in North Carolina. NCSBA’s proposed fees were about $15,000, compared with about $30,000 in HYA’s proposal.
Board members in August decided against conducting the search on their own, saying they did not think they were qualified to do so and that district staff did not have the time, and requested proposals from outside firms to aid in the search. The move followed Superintendent Neil Pedersen’s July announcement that he will retire at the end of next June.
“We are at the very, very beginning,†board member Jamezetta Bedford said. “I’ll be looking to [NCSBA] for guidance on next steps, first steps.â€
Bedford said she wants to hear from the public on the kind of superintendent they would like to see lead the district, and added that she is looking for someone who is “supportive of minority children’s achievement, of exceptional children’s achievement … of children that are different.
“I’m looking for somebody who can make changes that will benefit children who aren’t achieving,†she said.
Board Chair Mike Kelley said he would like to discuss with NCSBA ways of collecting community input throughout the process, adding that he would like to hear what kind of candidate both the board and the community would be interested in pursuing.
“I think that there are a couple different dimensions that can be considered,†Kelley said, citing personal characteristics, educational background, work experience and areas of candidate focus as possible considerations for the board.
At this point, Kelley said the board will focus on determining what should be included in the advertising for the position, including what characteristics they are looking for.
Board members have not determined an official timeline for the hiring process, but have said they would like to appoint a new superintendent by April.
The board of education will meet with NCSBA at 7 p.m. on Friday at Chapel Hill Town Hall. The meeting will be broadcast on Chapel Hill Channel 18.