LONGMEADOW – The School Committee has expanded the number of members for the Superintendent Search Committee from 11 to 15 in order to involve more community members and district staff in the search process.

School Committee Chair Janet Robinson said the search committee members would include one parent representative from each of the district’s six schools; an assistant superintendent; a school principal; one teacher representative from the middle school, elementary school, and high school levels; one special education parent representative; a high school student; one senior citizen from the community; and one general community member.

“What we are asking of the people who are serving on the search committee is two things; one is that they have to be available on Dec. 2 from 5 to 10 p.m. and at that meeting they are going to be viewing videos and reading resumes of eight to 12 candidates that the search firm – Ray and Associates – is bringing forward,” Robinson said.

The Dec. 2 meeting will be an executive session meeting, she noted. At the end of the meeting the search committee would recommend six to eight candidates be brought forward for face-to-face interviews.

The in-person interviews are scheduled for Dec. 12 with the search committee and three School Committee members and would likely last from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Robinson said. This meeting will also be in executive session to protect the privacy of the semi-finalists.

“By the end of that day, that committee will recommend three finalists and those finalists will then be brought forth for final interviews to the School Committee, which will be taking place on Dec. 13,” she noted. “We’re scheduling a special meeting from 5 to 10 p.m. and those interviews are done in open session.”

The three School Committee members who would serve on the Search Committee would be decided at a future meeting, Robinson said.

The School Committee’s deadline to choose a new superintendent is Jan. 5, but that decision may be slightly delayed in order to allow site interviews at each candidate’s school, she noted.

“It may be pushed back a week, but our goal is definitely still early January,” she added.

The School Committee voted that the next superintendent’s salary range would be $140,000 to $170,000, she noted.

Robinson said the qualifications for the candidates are that they have or are able to obtain certification as a superintendent in Massachusetts and advanced degrees are preferred, but not required.

“We’re looking for the best candidates that may be a current sitting superintendent, that may be a current assistant superintendent, that may be a current school principal who has leadership abilities,” she added. “We wanted to leave the options open so as to cast as wide a net as possible to attract the most interesting and the most qualified candidates.”

A promotional flyer will be distributed to websites and publications in order to recruit candidates, including Education Week Newspaper and its website, Ray and Associates, School Leadership 2.0, The Ladders Passport, ExecutivesOnly.com, the National Association of School Superintendents’ website, the Massachusetts Association of School Administrators, and the American Association of School Administrator’s job bulletin and website, according to information from the district.

The flyer will also be mailed to all districts within Massachusetts.

The School Committee is accepting applications by Nov. 7 for any qualified individuals who wish to serve on the search committee. Applications can be submitted to schoolcommittee@longmeadow.k12.ma.us.

Interested parties should name and the position on the committee that you wish to represent (ie: parent at Longmeadow High School). Should the School Committee receive more than one name for any position, those names will be placed in a lottery to determine the representative for the position. If necessary, this drawing will take place at the School Committee meeting on Nov. 9.