The search for a superintendent could take Fort Bend Independent School District six months, says a man who’s recently been through it, but it’s important to make sure there’s time for full public participation in the process.
Raymond Hartfield, president of the Round Rock ISD Board of Trustees, held a workshop for FBISD board members Monday, outlining required legal procedures and interviewing techniques involved in a superintendent search.
Hartfield’s board found itself in a position similar to that facing FBISD’s – the district was without a superintendent, and board members were sharply divided over many issues.
“We had no common bond,” Hartfield said of his board when its members began searching for a superintendent. Trustees were divided by age, philosophy, “east side vs. west side,” and in numerous other ways.
However, “this process caused all of us to put enough of ourselves on the table as a team to actually get something done,” something Hartfield said never had happened before.
Calling it the most important task in which a board trustee will ever participate, Hartfield cautioned that successfully searching for and finding a superintendent with the qualities needed by the district requires a high level of commitment.
“This needs to be a team of seven,” Hartfield said. “No exceptions. No exceptions. If you try to hold meetings with six, or five, this whole thing will come unraveled… It’s imperative you recognize how important your role is as a team of seven.”
Ironically, as with most workshops held so far on the superintendent’s search, only five board members were present for Hartfield’s presentation. Trustee Stan Magee came to the meeting, but had to leave abruptly for a family emergency. Trustee Ken Bryant also was absent.
Hartfield said reaching consensus on a superintendent finalist is essential, because otherwise a good candidate may not agree to work for the district.
“My suggestion is, don’t hire anybody on a 4-3 vote,” Hartfield said. “Why would you bring a professional superintendent in if they’re one vote away from being ousted?”
After finding herself at odds with some board members over several contentious issues last year, FBISD Superintendent Betty Baitland announced her desire to retire, and renegotiated her contract in a deal in which she stopped active service for the district in December.
As part of that deal, Baitland is using accrued state and local leave and vacation days to essentially go on paid leave for the remainder of 2007. Her annual salary is $216,000.
In the interim, the district is overseen by Acting Superintendent Manuela Pedraza, and the board has begun talking to executive search firms about finding a new superintendent.
Board President Lisa Rickert told Hartfield some search firms had suggested the process of finding a new superintendent could take three to four months.
Hartfield, director of education for AT&T Texas and a Texas Association of School Boards master trustee, said if the process were “optimized,” it could be done in four months. However, he advised, “if you do compress anything, compress your part. Do not compress the community part.”
He emphasized the importance of gaining the public’s feedback, advice and support in finding the top leader for FBISD. In Round Rock – a district with about half the number of students in FBISD – the board held town meetings in each of the district’s attendance zones to hear what people wanted in a superintendent.
Finding someone with the qualities the public wants can create stronger community support for the district. “You don’t want your new superintendent to come in with a black eye if you can help it,” Hartfield said.
He said Round Rock ISD reviewed 83 superintendent applications before hiring Dr. Jesus Chavez from Corpus Christi. Chavez reportedly negotiated an annual salary of just over $200,000, with a potential $10,000 annual performance bonus.
Hartfield said the district began evaluating search firms on May 19, 2005, and Chavez reported to work at Round Rock ISD on Feb. 1, 2006.
Once Chavez was chosen as finalist, and the board voted to signal its intent to hire him, the Round Rock board president, working with the district’s legal counsel, was designated to negotiate a contract.
Rickert and other trustees informally agreed to take up the matter of selecting a search firm at the board’s next meeting – at 7 p.m. on May 8, in the board room at the FBISD Administration Building, 16431 Lexington Blvd., Sugar Land.
