What’s next for Wichita’s superintendent search?

What kind of superintendent does Wichita need?

School board members will meet in a closed-door session Thursday to discuss the qualities they want in a new superintendent and to hash out the process they will use to seek a replacement for John Allison, who recently accepted the top job at Olathe public schools.

“This gives us an opportunity to rethink where we’ve been, what we’ve done, where we want to go and who we want to be,” said board member Lynn Rogers.

“It’s kind of a clean slate, so everybody can kind of start from scratch.”

Rogers was school board president eight years ago, the last time the district had to hire a new schools chief. Former superintendent Winston Brooks left Wichita for Albuquerque in June 2008. After an extensive nationwide search, board members hired Allison in March 2009.

Three other current board members – Barbara Fuller, Betty Arnold and Jeff Davis – also were on the board that hired Allison.

Board president Sheril Logan said she hopes the board is able to craft a “rough draft” of its search plan on Thursday and present some details publicly during its regular meeting Jan. 9.

“Right now we don’t know what we’re going to do beyond, ‘We have to find a new superintendent,’ ” Logan said.

“All the questions you all are asking – What kind of person do we want to be our superintendent? How do we make sure our community has a say? – I simply just don’t know yet,” she said. “We’ve got to make all those kinds of decisions.”

Among the issues board members likely will discuss:

▪ What they see as priorities for a new superintendent

▪ A proposed timeline for the search process

▪ Whether they prefer a local, regional or nationwide search

▪ Whether to use a professional search firm

▪ Whether to hire a chief operating officer, a position that has been vacant since 2012, in addition to hiring a superintendent

▪ How to involve community members in the search and evaluation of candidates

Hire a headhunter?

Eight years ago, the school board paid Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates – the nation’s largest superintendent search firm – about $35,000 to aid its nationwide search for a new superintendent.

The firm conducted focus groups with dozens of community members and organizations and used the information to establish criteria that winnowed a field of about 50 potential candidates.

Officials from the firm also scheduled and facilitated public question-and-answer sessions with two finalists – Allison and Denise Wren, a former assistant superintendent for secondary schools.

Rogers said the headhunting firm was “very helpful” in recruiting and vetting candidates.

“Of course, the problem with that is it costs money,” Rogers said. “I guess once every eight years it’s not too bad.

“But we’ll have to decide: Do we want to go that route? How much do we want to spend, and what do we get for it?”

Last time the district launched a superintendent search, it was in the midst of a campaign for a $370 million bond issue.

“I wouldn’t recommend that to anybody,” Rogers said. “It all worked out, but it certainly wasn’t ideal.”

Brooks left three months after accepting his new job in Albuquerque, so the board named Martin Libhart, former chief operations officer, as interim superintendent.

Allison has said he plans to stay in Wichita several more months – through June – which should help ease the district’s transition to new leadership, Rogers said.

“We haven’t really heard officially from John. He’s taken the position (in Olathe), but we’d like to visit with him in terms of what his thoughts are for the district and who he thinks is capable of running it,” Rogers said.

“If we think we can do it before John leaves – and it is possible – that person could work with him for a little while or talk to him, and at least they’d have that access.”

Salaries and benefits

Wichita will have some competition in its search.

Several large school districts nationwide have superintendent vacancies, including Omaha, Portland, Ore., Fairfax County, Va., Montclair, N.J., Binghamton, N.Y., and Greenwich, Conn.

Salary and benefit packages have risen over the past several years. Allison, who was the second-highest-paid superintendent in the state, collected $297,520 in total pay and benefits last year, according to a report by the Kansas Department of Education.

Rogers said board members will have to talk about what kind of salary and benefits to offer a new superintendent to stay competitive in the marketplace.

Complicating matters, he said, is the fact that Allison has served as both superintendent and chief operating officer for the past few years.

Shortly after Wren, the district’s former chief operating officer, left the district in 2012, Allison said he wasn’t able to find a qualified candidate who would agree to the salary proposed. Wren’s salary was $135,700 a year.

“We’re very thin on administrators. We don’t really have a second and third in command,” Rogers said. “So one of the questions is: Who do you have ready in the wings to help take over, and what are their strengths and weaknesses, too?”

Among the dozen members of the Wichita district’s leadership team are four assistant superintendents: Bill Faflick, assistant superintendent for secondary schools; Alicia Thompson, assistant superintendent for elementary schools; Neil Guthrie, assistant superintendent for student support services; and Tiffinie Irving, assistant superintendent for learning services.

Logan, the school board president, said there are more questions than answers about who could replace Allison. Although board members hope to move quickly, she said, they also must be deliberate, thorough and responsive to the community’s needs.

“We haven’t made any kinds of decisions – not yet,” Logan said. “That whole process starts when we can sit down and start talking.”

This story was originally published December 31, 2016 at 5:36 PM with the headline "What’s next for Wichita’s superintendent search?."