Here’s how and when the Wichita school board plans to search for next superintendent

The Wichita school board plans to name outgoing Superintendent Alicia Thompson’s replacement by spring break 2023.

Thompson, who has held the job since 2017, plans to retire at the end of the school year.

At Monday’s meeting, the school board hired Cedar Rapids-based Ray & Associates to assist in the search process at a base fee of $34,000 with another estimated $5,000 for travel expenses.

USD 259’s Chief Human Resources Officer Sean Hudspeth said the district will first conduct an internal search process, as it does for all openings. The board can then choose to initiate a national search or opt for Ray & Associates to help narrow down internal candidates.

National advertising to attract superintendent candidates would cost the board another estimated $15,000, Hudspeth said.

Thompson was already a Wichita Public Schools employee when she was hired as superintendent. Her predecessor, John Allison, was a superintendent in Pennsylvania before being hired to helm Kansas’ largest school district.

Ray & Associates has overseen superintendent searches for a number of Kansas districts in recent years, including Shawnee Mission.

“We did vet some other search firms but this is the one we feel like would be in our best interest moving forward,” Hudspeth said.

The school board plans to meet with Ray & Associates before Thanksgiving and seek input on preferences for the next superintendent via questionnaire from district staff and community groups in December.

“We’ll be out for winter break, but as soon as we return in January, we would want to make sure that that profile is solid, it’s ready to go, and that profile in essence becomes the job description for the new superintendent,” Hudspeth said.

The board plans to spend three weeks in January focusing on community engagement before finalizing the candidate profile. Candidate interviews would then be completed in February ahead of the spring break announcement.