Eudora community members will take some of the first steps to decide what they want in the next school superintendent during focus groups scheduled for Tuesday.
The focus groups will be led by the Kansas Association of School Boards, a not-for-profit organization the district’s school board privately contracted to help guide its superintendent search.
Eight focus groups comprised of members who were proposed by three district staff members will come in starting around 8:15 a.m. and go until 4:45 p.m. Tuesday.
Each group has around 12 to 15 people participating, said district spokesman Mark Dodge, but not every person invited by the school district had RSVP’d as of late Monday afternoon.
The groups include representation from the elementary school, middle school, high school, administrators, the district office, students, parents and community stakeholders. They were curated by Dodge, Human Resources Director Amy Shanks and Board Clerk Amy Brunkow.
The school board wanted to ensure the district had “a good cross section” of staff members involved in special education, class instruction, food service and other roles within the district, Dodge said.
“This is one of those processes that KASB [Kansas Association of School Boards] is working with our board to put together a very thorough profile in terms of qualities and characteristics we’re looking for in the next leader of our district,” Dodge said.
The school district could know its next superintendent by early May, if the search follows the timeline set by the Kansas Association of School Boards. The search started after current Superintendent Steve Splichal resigned during a board meeting in March.
Splichal served as the superintendent for seven years. He will move to Wyoming to become superintendent of the Fremont County School District on July 1.
A summary of the focus groups’ meetings will be provided to the school board during a meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Board members will then share their thoughts on what qualities the next superintendent should have with the Kansas Association of School Boards.
“They’ll take all that information and then they’ll use it to screen candidates,” School Board President Mark Chrislip said.
The position is posted on the Kansas Association of School Boards’ website: https://kasb.myrevelus.com/client/search/54. The next superintendent should be able to “provide leadership in developing and maintaining the best possible educational programs and services,” according to a copy of the superintendent application provided by the Kansas Association of School Boards. The posting notes the salary will be “based on qualifications.”
Candidates applying for the job will most likely call the Kansas Association of School Boards to receive a copy of the qualities and characteristics the focus groups propose, said Brian Jordan, the organization’s deputy executive director.
After the meeting with the school board Tuesday, the full results of the focus groups’ desired characteristics will be made public.
The Eudora Times requested to attend the focus group meetings to hear input on what community members want in the next superintendent, which is a taxpayer-funded position.
However, although the focus group participants were selected by public school district employees, the Times was told that the focus group meetings will be closed to the public because they are led by a private contractor. And “due to the confidential nature of the process,” the names of those participating in the focus groups cannot be released, Dodge said.
Interviews with candidates for the superintendent position are anticipated to take place between April 22 to May 3.
Reach reporter Nicole Asbury at [email protected].
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