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Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2008 > May > 26
Monday, May 26, 2008
Wanted: Super man or woman for super job
It would be helpful for the Dayton school board if the right candidate to replace Superintendent Percy Mack would show up to interview wearing a cape and a big “S” on his or her chest.
“The next superintendent has to be a superman or superwoman,” board President Yvonne Isaacs said. “They’ve got to be a curriculum expert, to work with the community, to understand finance and to keep our building program on track. And hopefully they’ll be able to work effectively with the board.”
Board members know the search will not be that easy.
In interviews last week, several themes were common in the comments of five of the seven board members. They are open to local and internal candidates, but want a wide national search. They want Mack’s replacement to forge a deep connection with the community. They want someone with expertise in urban education. And they want a proven leader.
“Dayton looks for leaders to be engaged in the community,” board member Stacy Thompson said. “We need a community engager who will get involved with stakeholders — parents businesspeople, teachers. To facilitate that is critical in Dayton.”
With Mack’s announcement this month that he will leave Dayton after six years as superintendent to take the top job at the school district in Columbia, S.C., this summer, Dayton will have it’s first true superintendent search in eight years. Mack ascended to the top job from deputy superintendent without a search in 2002 when his predecessor, Jerrie Bascome McGill, retired.
Two years before, McGill was picked in a tumultuous board meeting that followed a problematic search led by an outside company. The company’s secretive selection process kept board members from knowing most of the names of those applied and prompted a lawsuit by the Dayton Daily News.
Board member Nancy Nerny said she prefers to use the services of the Ohio School Board Association for this search. Nerny said she wants the board to invite internal and external candidates to apply.
“We need someone who really loves the community and gets out in the neighborhoods and understands what our neighborhoods are like,” she said.
Mack’s top deputy, Debra Brathwaite, is a potential candidate to replace him. But Brathwaite last week interviewed for the second time at Princeton schools near Cincinnati. She is one of three finalists for superintendent there and could be offered that job this week.
Board members said they are interested in Brathwaite but won’t push their search process forward just to compete for her.
“We’re not going to rush this search,” Isaacs said.
School board member Joe Lacey also favors a broad search and prefers candidates with teaching backgrounds.
“We’re looking for innovative leadership,” he said. “We want someone who can understand the community.”
Board member Sheila Taylor said she prefers a local candidate, if possible, and a strong organizer.
“I want a superintendent with the same love in his heart as Dr. Mack for student learning and the Dayton community,” she said.
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