When Colleen Wilcox, former Superintendent of schools for Santa
Clara County, abruptly resigned last October, she left some big
shoes to fill, and for the first time in 14 years, the county is
looking for a new superintendent, hiring a consulting firm to pick
a candidate from the shallow pool of qualified available
applicants.
When Colleen Wilcox, former Superintendent of schools for Santa Clara County, abruptly resigned last October, she left some big shoes to fill, and for the first time in 14 years, the county is looking for a new superintendent, hiring a consulting firm to pick a candidate from the shallow pool of qualified available applicants.
“This is a real opportunity for everyone to state what’s important to them,” said Santa Clara County Board of Education Trustee Jane Howard, who represents the South County. “It’s been 14 years since we’ve had this kind of opportunity, and we’re making the most of it. We want to find out from the community what they’re looking for. It’s an important position, as our office provides support to the local districts in the county.”
Howard said the board hopes to have a new superintendent in place by July 1. Joe Fimiani is the interim superintendent.
Fimiani was appointed by the county board of education effective Nov. 1. He was a long-time special education administrator at the Santa Clara County Office of Education before becoming assistant superintendent of the office’s student services branch in 2002.
The board selected a consulting firm, Leadership Associates, at the end of November. The firm will guide the search for the new superintendent.
Marty Butt, a former superintendent and one of nine Leadership Associates partners, said the consultants are in the process of gathering community input to be used to create a profile of the future superintendent as well as to highlight issues that are important to the county.
The consultants have scheduled several meetings throughout the county, including one meeting in Morgan Hill Monday which was only attended by one person, Butt said, but interested residents can e-mail their comments to Leadership Associates partners by visiting their
