Online survey, public meetings, kick off superintendent search
November 4, 2021 | By Lisa Scagliotti 
Superintendent Search section on the HUUSD.org website. Screenshot
The search for a new superintendent for the Harwood Unified Union School District has begun with a community survey in progress and multiple meetings next week for various groups including community members to weigh in on the qualifications a successful candidate should have.
While attention may have been on the $59.5 million school construction bond vote that took place earlier this week, the steps are already in motion in the process that will span the next three months with a goal of choosing a new hire in February. Superintendent Brigid Nease, whose tenure with the district began in mid-2009, will finish out her current contract at the end of June 2022.
The school board has hired a recruitment firm to help with the search process. To prepare, a few school board members were tasked with looking over the district’s job description and employment contract for the position to determine what revisions might be needed. The drafts of those updated documents and other background related to the search are now posted on the HUUSD.org website under the heading Superintendent Search.
The board will finalize those documents this month and also gather suggestions from a variety of groups starting with an online survey that opened Nov. 1 and runs through Wednesday, Nov. 10.
Next week, the board will host a series of meetings over Zoom for community members (Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 8-9), high school students, teachers, staff and administrators from around the district.
The goal of the survey and meetings is to create a list of qualifications that the school board will use to evaluate applicants for the job. The consultant the board hired, John Gratto from the Nebraska firm MacPherson & Jacobson, will facilitate the meetings and compile the feedback they solicit. The queries will focus on four main questions:
What makes our community a good place to live?
What makes this a good school district - for students and staff?
What are the issues that a new superintendent needs to know about as he or she comes into the district?
What skills, qualities and characteristics will the new superintendent need to be successful?
A key decision the school board needs to make this month will be to appoint a committee to work with the consultant to review applications, do initial interviews, and make finalist recommendations. The school board hires the superintendent.
Initially the board described creating a committee of just board members, but both administrators and the union representing teachers and staff have asked that the screening committee include members of other stakeholders such as themselves as well as students and community members.
The job will be advertised by late November with applications due by Jan. 4. Screening interviews will be done in January with a goal of making a job offer in early February.
Information on the superintendent search process can be found online at huusd.org/superintendent-search. To go directly to the online survey, click here.