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Bob horton: school board's superintendent choice cloaked in secrecy by 123wert sdfsf
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Bob horton: school board's superintendent choice cloaked in secrecy |
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Business,Business News,Business Opportunities
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When white smoke billowed from the Havemeyer Building chimney lastweek indicating Greenwich had a new superintendent of schools, the Board of Education immediately started introducing Dr. William McKersie to his new community. The introductions should have started several months sooner, butinstead of conducting an open search that embraced input fromanyone interested in offering it, the school board did most of thehard work behind closed doors. And that may prove to be adisservice, not just to townspeople, but to the school board and toMcKersie. Selection of a new school superintendent is arguably the mostimportant civic decision any community makes.
This particularappointment is critical because leadership of Greenwich publicschools has been a revolving door for 15 years or so, and almosteveryone agrees that the school system needs the consistency thatis provided by an excellent administrator with a long-termcommitment to the community. On paper, McKersie has a lot to recommend him. The 52-year-oldadministrator has degrees from Tufts and Harvard universities, anda doctorate from the University of Chicago . He is currently an associate superintendent for academicexcellence for the Archdiocese of Boston, so perhaps we can checkoff the curriculum expertise box that our interim superintendent,Dr. Roger Lulow , says the district needs.
But his impressive resume also raises some questions. Some peopleare concerned that McKersie has spent very little time in theclassroom (as a teacher), or that his resume is thin in operationalor managerial experience. Others would like to know his views aboutreligion in school, given his background in the Catholic Church and its schools. There are also many unknowns about how the Board of Educationreached its decision. What did they see in McKersie that made himstand out from the other applicants? Who were the other finalistsand what did their resumes look like? What specific mandate did theschool board give him? How did the school board define success toour new superintendent? What issues did McKersie raise in hisinterview? The questions go on and on, as they should.
If the school board hadconducted a more open process, McKersie would be moving to townwith many of these questions answered. Greenwich could learn a lesson from another community thatconsidered McKersie for the top school post -- Barrington, R.I. Unable to find McKersie's resume on the Greenwich BOE website (itmay have been there, but I couldn't find it) I was directed by areader to the Barrington school board site. There I found not just McKersie's resume, but those of thethree other finalists under consideration for the job. The Rhode Island city's website also described the selectionprocess adopted by its school board.
Not only did it identify thefour finalists, it conducted separate, public interviews with eachone and provided feedback forms for completion by anyone whoattended the interviews. Barrington residents were an important part of the selectionprocess. They heard firsthand the questions important to the Boardof Education, and they heard the answers offered by theirprospective superintendents. They could judge for themselves thecommunication skills and other intangibles that don't come acrosson a piece of paper.
And they had an opportunity to express theirviews on each candidate in writing. Contrast that with our school board's selection process. Sure, theyasked for input before the selection process, but we never got achance to see how they interpreted that input through questionsasked of the different candidates. We don't know how many finalistswere considered. All we are left with are the vague generalitiesfrom the news release and the usual platitudes about strong "workethic" and a "great range of experience." The Greenwich school board had an opportunity to build a substantive foundation of supportfor the new schools chief, but instead it chose secrecy, which isthe default mode of too many town officials, boards and agencies.
The community will still welcome McKersie and his family with openarms and will look to follow his lead. And there is always a periodof adjustment for both the community and a new leader, but theperiod did not have to start off with such a blank slate. Bob Horton can be reached at bobhorton@yahoo.com. I am Kitchen Storage & Organization writer, reports some information about releasable cable ties , steel cable ties.
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