Community provides input for Lee County Schools superintendent search
Community members attending either the evening or morning superintendent forum this week shared their thoughts as to what they want to see in the next administrative chief for Lee County Schools.
The input was facilitated by Ray & Associates, the firm helping the School Board of Lee County search for its new superintendent.
Regional Search Associate Steve Cochrane said the selection of a superintendent has a big impact on the life of children and the community as a whole.
“I believe there is no other point in history that is more difficult, or more important to be an educational leader. I want to help in any way I can in this district and others to find the right leader to move the district and community forward,” he said.
The two forums were two among the 30 focus groups being held to gather input. From the input gathered, Ray & Associates will build a superintendent profile that will be advertised nationally, as well as using it to help in frame interview questions for potential candidates.
The forum was broken down into eight questions, which were read by Ray & Associates and answered by those who wished to speak from the audience. At the end of the forum, the audience was told they could email Ray & Associates with potential superintendent candidate names, if they had any.
The targeted questions included the strengths and challenges of the district, qualities of a leader, positives about the Lee County community, superintendent leadership qualities, critical issues in the district and potential questions the school board should ask the candidates.
Some of the positives shared included the diversity and involvement of the community; wide variety of choices available to students; leadership in science education and Lee County being special because it is newer as more families root themselves here turning into generations of one family growing up in the area.
Leadership qualities and management styles shared included a constitutional compass; a backbone, so they can hold their ground respectively; understanding laws and using those to make policies best for parents and children; team building; collaboration; transparency; assertive with decision making; principles; morals and supports every subject in school.
“A combination of academic background, not necessarily in the classroom so much, but being involved in education,” one participant said. “And business management because it is important to be able to maneuver and manipulate the budget to best serve everybody.”
Another important quality shared was someone who has a history of creating liaisons with the broader community, so students can enjoy the quality of life right here in Lee County.
Critical immediate issues included putting children ahead of politics; finances; school choice; academic programming and the “lack of civility and outright assault on education.”
“We have seen school board members having to deal with getting yelled at, calling names. That is a really big issue that the superintendent will need to face. There is a lot of disinformation that has come into our community and these schools are an excellent way to dispel disinformation that has contaminated the community,” a participant shared.
Cochrane said the superintendent profile will be put together in the next few weeks which hopefully will attract a large pool of applicants. The closing date for applicants is right before winter break in December.
Once the school board narrows its candidates down to the top three, the community will have another opportunity to get involved in the process by completing an impressions form, which will be given to the board.
The community can share what they would like to see in the new superintendent by taking the online survey, which is open until 8 a.m. Oct. 7.
The English survey can be found at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VS3NWT7; Spanish survey at https://www.surveymonkey.co/r/VTGFV8Q and Haitian Creole survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VZJGH3V.