Superintendent finalist interviews to take place Dec. 17

Dec. 10, 2015 | Chris Goudreau
cgoudreau@thereminder.com

LONGMEADOW – The Superintendent Search Committee and Ray and Associates, an Iowa-based superintendent search firm hired to help with finding a new leader for the district, have vetted 47 applicants down to six candidates.

School Committee Chair Janet Robinson told Reminder Publications the six candidates would be interviewed by the Search Committee face-to-face in executive session at its Dec. 12 meeting in order to determine three finalists.

“Ray and Associates has taken all of those [applicants and] reviewed them according to what the community had given as input for the characteristics that they would like to see in a superintendent,” she added.

Search Committee and Ray and Associates vetted the applicants through viewing video clips of candidates, reviewing resumes and creating a matrix to rank each applicant, she explained.

Fifteen of the 47 applicants are Massachusetts residents, she noted.

Robinson said a community survey identified traits such as new superintendent who “possesses excellent people skills, presents a positive image of the district and will listen to input and make a decision when necessary.”

Those surveyed also sought a candidate who possesses self-confidence, models high standards of integrity and personal performance, while also exhibiting the ability to inspire trust and develop and communicate a vision of quality education for the future to the School Committee, staff and the community, she noted.  

Input from the community also included that the next leader of the district should be a strong communicator with excellent speaking, listening and writing skills, Robinson said.

“We had a listing of 33 qualities that would be desired in a superintendent and of those, [community] members were asked to choose the 10 most important to them,” she explained.

She added the School Committee would interview the three finalists at its Dec. 17 meeting tentatively set to begin at 5 p.m.

Robinson said the deadline for choosing a new superintendent is Jan. 5, 2016.

“The results [of the search] are going to be with us for hopefully a long time of choosing an appropriate superintendent who fits in our community,” she added. “I’m looking forward to continuing the process and have faith in the community members that have agreed to participate.”

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