Gilroy
– The slate of candidates for the next superintendent position
has been narrowed down to eight individuals – four men and four
women – hailing from three states. By Monday, only six will remain
in the running.
Gilroy – The slate of candidates for the next superintendent position has been narrowed down to eight individuals – four men and four women – hailing from three states. By Monday, only six will remain in the running.
At least 30 applicants have been weeded out since April 11 by application reviews and interviews conducted by Hazard, Young and Attea, the consulting firm hired by the board of trustees to run the job search. The eight remaining applicants are exceptional, said Bill Attea, a founder of the firm and a former superintendent.
“As of right now, we think you would be pleased to see at least six candidates,” he told the board at its meeting Thursday.
Of the initial 38 applicants for the position, 29 live in California, 18 are superintendents and 13 are assistant superintendents or administrators. The firm would not provide any specific information on the eight remaining candidates or which six were likely to be selected.
The firm will present the six finalists to the board at a closed session portion of a meeting Monday. The board will use the open session potion of the meeting to review a script to be used during the first round of interviews. The script – generated by Attea and based on suggested questions from trustees – gives the initial interviews uniformity and shields the board from accusations of discrimination, Attea said.
The first round of interviews will be conducted in two, six-hour closed sessions Thursday and Friday. The firm and the board anticipated interviewing only five applicants and, as a result, was forced to add an extra two-hour interview to the closed session Thursday. The board also had the opportunity to spread the six interviews out over three days. However, holding two days of interviews would provide for more fairness and better comparison among candidates, trustees said.
The board will identify its three preferred candidates Friday after the interviews but will not make its decision public.
“It is going to be intense,” said Tom Bundros, president of the board. “The following week is also going to be intense.”
April 30 through May 3 the board will host each of the three preferred candidates and their significant others for a 24-hour period. Board members will rotate taking the candidate to lunch and on a tour through the schools. The entire board will have dinner and an open-ended, more personalized interview session with the candidate following the tour.
“We intentionally built in a dinner because you learn a lot through the informal dialogue,” said Attea.
Bundros and a trustee also will meet with each candidate for an exit interview over breakfast.
“The exit interview is to ask three basic questions,” Attea said. “One is, now that you’ve had a chance to sleep on it, do you have any additional questions … No. 2 are you still interested in being our superintendent. And the critical question is to talk about what are your expectations if you should be selected to be our next superintendent.”
These expectations include the compensation package the board would offer, he said.
Based on the two rounds of interviews, the board will choose a candidate for the position of superintendent at a closed session meeting May 3. Trustees will have an opportunity to go on a site visit with the chosen candidate during the week of May 6. Should the candidate accept the position, the board will announce its selection May 17 at a regular board meeting.
As the board prepares for the interviews, it needs to consider not only the questions it puts forth to candidates, but also the face it puts on the district, said Attea.
“Interviews are two ways, folks,” he said. “They’re going to be interviewing you as much as you are going to be interviewing them.”
