In its continuing effort to find a permanent superintendent, the School Committee made two decisions Monday night. First, the committee authorized Chairwoman SusanMary Redinger to seek a critical shortage waiver from the state so that the district can rehire current interim Superintendent Joe Connelly for the next school year. And second, members voted unanimously to hire a professional personnel firm to start afresh in the search to fill the position on a long-term basis.
Another year for Connelly
Asked whether he would be willing to stay in Harvard another year, Connelly said, “I would be honored, if you could get the waiver.” He noted that he, like the committee members, was disappointed that the recent search had been unsuccessful.
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School Committee member Keith Cheveralls (left) and interim Superintendent Joe Connelly at a recent meeting. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
A critical shortage waiver is necessary for a district to hire a teacher or administrator who is officially retired, as Connelly is. The Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education has already twice granted Harvard’s request for such a waiver for Connelly to serve as interim superintendent. Presumably, Harvard will have little difficulty demonstrating that it has met the legal requirement of making “a good-faith effort to hire non-retirees and been unsuccessful.”
Redinger began the discussion of the new search by saying that she wanted an open discussion of all the options. She also advocated debriefing the 13 people who served on the previous search committee to get their ideas on improving the process.
School Committee member Bob Sullebarger said that he wanted to unite the committee around the idea of engaging a recruiter. He said that a recruiter could do more than placing an advertisement and waiting to see who responds.
Needs of a high-performing district
“The difference is that a recruiter goes after people,” he said. “A recruiter identifies candidates who are a good match and then convinces them that this is a good career move [to come to Harvard]. . . . In a high-performing district, you really need to recruit someone who is professionally, intellectually, and emotionally prepared for the level of scrutiny they are going to find in a town like this.”
Committee member Kirsten Wright reported that she had been looking into hiring a recruiting firm “with some skepticism but trying to have an open mind.” She had found the firms less expensive than she’d expected, she said, with costs ranging between $13,000 and $18,000 for a search. She noted that search firms would offer the School Committee training for interviewing candidates and making site visits to the candidates’ schools, as well as helping committee members clarify what the community needs in its next superintendent.
“I could go either way,” committee member Patricia Wenger said of hiring a recruiter. “The cost is not prohibitive.”
Turning to the experts
Last to weigh in, committee member Keith Cheveralls noted that hiring a search firm is not a guarantee of success. But he acknowledged that it was the best course of action now.
“It is quite difficult in this town to say that you were wrong,” Cheveralls said. “I was wrong. I was the person who led the charge, in effect, against using a search firm…I am now totally convinced that the only way forward for this committee is the search firm.”
Redinger wrapped up the discussion, saying, “I wholeheartedly endorse bringing in the experts at this point.”
In coming weeks, Wenger and Wright will research recruiting firms together, and Sullebarger will organize a debriefing session with members of the previous search committee, everyone keeping the focus on process so that names of prior applicants who did not become finalists remain confidential.
As for Connelly, he will be rolling up his sleeves for what will most likely be another year as Harvard’s interim superintendent.
