WILMINGTON, MA — At its recent meeting, the Wilmington School Committee received an orientation on its Superintendent Search process from its search firm consultant, Art Bettencourt, Executive Director of the New England School Development Council.
“The search begins now and will likely last for the next 3-4 months,” began Bettencourt after he distributed a guide to the Committee, which included a proposed timeline. “The length of a typical superintendent search is 120 days… When this search process is complete, you should be ready to appoint your new Superintendent by February or early March.”
Bettencourt did, however, refer to the timeline as an “open document,” that could be sped up or slowed down per the committee’s desires. Bettencourt cautioned expediting things too quickly, however, due to scheduling conflicts created by the December holiday season.
“We will begin the national outreach and advertising campaign as quickly as we can,” said Bettencourt, who asked the Committee to finalize the necessary text involved with the job posting by October 30, with an eye towards a November 1 launch.
“A Community Needs Assessment will then begin early in the process,” continued Bettencourt. “This will consist of a web-based survey and six focus groups to help you understand what the community is expecting in the new Superintendent…. A Candidate’s Profile — including the characteristics, background, and experiences you’re looking for in your new Superintendent — will be developed and will help the screening committee develop its interview question.”
The focus group sessions would take place in November and early December. The focus groups will consist of particular constituencies chosen by the School Committee. Groups could include teachers, parents, administration, support staff, and municipal officials.
“In the next 2-3 weeks, we would like you to identify those constituencies you’d like us to speak to and work out a schedule with you so you can put an announcement out to the community about these focus groups and when they’re going to meet,” said Bettencourt. “We’ll ask the groups open-ended questions and get out what they feel is important characteristics, background, skills and experiences they want in the next Superintendent.”
Applications will be due by December 14.
A Screening Committee will also be quickly formed. The Screening Committee, a subcommittee of the School Committee and subject to the Open Meeting Law, will consist of 12-18 individuals from the community and likely be chaired and vice-chaired by the two sole School Committee members who will serve on the committee.
The Screening Committee will first meet on January 4, where it will receive its orientation. The School Committee must determine the committee’s make-up. To take accusations of politics and favoritism out of the process, Bettencourt suggested that the School Committee go to each constinuency group (e.g., teachers union, district leadership team, PACs, etc.) and ask them to self-select by recommending members to serve on the screening Committee.
The Screening Committee will wrap up its meetings — all of which will be held in Executive Session (closed to the public) in mid-to-late January and recommend 3-5 finalists to the School Committee. The candidates will likely be publicly announced around January 31.
From that point on, the search must be completed in public.
“All questions, interviews and visits must done in full public view, in compliance with the Open Meeting Law,” said Bettencourt. “The one exception would likely be the contract negotiation.”
After public interviews, reference checks, candidates visiting Wilmington, and potentially School Committee members visiting the candidates’ districts, the School Committee will likely make a decision in February or early March. The next Superintendent would begin on or around July 1, providing plenty of “transition time” for the incoming Superintendent to get to know the district better and be “brought up to speed” so he or she can “hit the ground running.”
Bettencourt also suggested that the School Committee have a proposed contract in place prior to the selection. He recommends the committee’s attorney review any language changes. He notes that most Superintendent contracts are 3-5 years in length.
Bettencourt also asked the Committee to provide him, privately, with the committee’s salary range for the position.
“It’s common not to put a salary range in our outreach materials, but just say ‘regionally competitive’,” explained Bettencourt. “We will ask you, however, privately to give us that range because we ask candidates what their requirements are…. We need to be able to determine whether or not you can land a candidate based on their requested salary and fringe benefit expectations.”
“I anticipate the Wilmington’s superintendent vacancy will be an attractive position with a good applicant pool,” said Bettencourt. “The process will work. [NESDEC] will be here every step of the way to assist you. In the end, you’ll find [the timeline and its components] will fit together very well.”
“[This timeline] obviously makes sense,” School Committee member Julie Broussard told her colleagues. “At the same time, it’s aggressive. All of us, as individuals, need to self-reflect a little bit and understand what we can do and cannot do. This is a lot of work for us… Everyone has to do their share.”
School Committee Liaison
The School Committee was a bit divided over whom to appoint as its School Committee liaison between the Committee and the search firm.
School Committee member Julie Broussard recommended that School Committee Chair Steve Bjork fill the role. Bjork felt he could take on the responsibilities, in addition to his demanding duties as Chair. Broussand and member Manny Mulas voted in favor of Bjork. (Bjork abstained. Member Peggy Kane is abstaining from the entire process due to a potential conflict of interest with a family member working for the district. Member MJ Byrnes was absent from the meeting.)
Members Jennifer Bryson and Tom Talbot, however, preferred a different scenario.
“I’m willing to step up,” said Jennifer Bryson, who requested that Julie Broussard, who served as the Chair of the previous search committee, assist as a second liaison. Bryson, along with Tom Talbot, previously stepped up to negotiate the contract between the Committee and the NESDEC search firm.
“Having gone through this before, I’m willing to help in a back-up capacity, but I’m not interested in being the [representative],” responded Broussard.
The School Committee proceeded to vote 5-0 to appoint Bryson as the Committee’s liaison to the search firm. A vote to appoint Broussard as a secondary liasion may be considered at a future meeting.
Next Steps
“We have a lot of work ahead of us. There’s a lot to mull over and start working on,” said Chair Steve Bjork. “We’ll want to discuss the composition of the screening committee and focus groups at our next meeting.”
The Committee also had not yet formally signed the contract with NESDEC. The contract’s total stood at $17,460. Members were deciding whether to cut costs by potentially eliminating a focus group session or two. A couple of minor add-on expenses, including publicizing the opening on one or two national education job search sites, were also still being considered.
Watch The Discussion
Watch the lengthy discussion, courtesy of Wilmington Community Television, below, beginning at the 9:40-mark.
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