FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Broward County School Board met on Tuesday to come up with a checklist for what it’s looking for in its next superintendent.
Several specific things were mentioned by board members.
“Their resumes should be able to speak to being innovative, being a visionary, introducing things in their prior jobs of what was different, being a community leader,” said board member Daniel Foganholi.
In the end, they agreed on the following criteria: They want someone with strong communication skills, a person who has successful experience overseeing and directing a racially and socio-economically diverse population. They also said they want someone who is committed to equity, who is innovative and a creative thinker and someone who can build strong relationships with the board and community.
Board members also provided a look into the hiring timeline.
“It’s going to appear very aggressive in terms of the timeline,” said Ralph Ferrie with search firm McPherson and Jacobson.
Ferrie said the quicker the better, as there are a large number of superintendent openings in the country.
Advertising for the post will go out next Tuesday and applications will be due by April 13.
Candidates will be presented in early May and final interviews will be in early June.
Some expressed concern that the timeline is too hasty.
“Spring Break is when you try to do stakeholder input, then you’d be doing interviews during graduation -- again, bad timeline. This is just craziness,” said former school board candidate Nathalie Lynch-Walsh.