The William S. Hart Union High School District held an in-person forum at the district office Tuesday night to hear what the community would like in a new superintendent.
Blanca Cavazos, a consultant with Leaderships Associates, an executive search firm hired to assist in finding the next superintendent, led the forum to receive input from the community.
Cavazos led five individuals who came to the forum in a discussion based off of three questions: What qualities, experiences, and skills would the community like to have in the next superintendent? Why is this district a good place to work? And what are some challenges that the district faces?
Based on the responses recorded, the district and the firm will create questions and criteria for the next superintendent. Once the next superintendent is selected, the data collected will be presented to the new district leader to provide background on issues needing to be addressed.
Of the five individuals present, Rick and Rebecca Hindman took the lead in the discussion. Eric Anderson was also in attendance.
In response to the first question about what qualities, experiences, and skills the new superintendent should have, both of the Hindmans said the superintendent should have experience managing a district of similar size to the Hart district, be able to manage political divide, be able to prioritize students of diverse backgrounds, respect teachers and students, perform community outreach, and as a wish list item someone who is bilingual.
“Someone who can handle massive, glaring political divide and the chaos that it brings and be able to handle it with clarity and level headedness, not take sides,” said Rebecca Hindman.
Rebecca Hindman added the reason this district was a good one is because of the great quality of teachers and courses offered. She said the district listens to the parents and students and tries to meet their needs, and the district works to create equal opportunities for all students through programs.
“We have schools like Bowman or the adult school to keep up with the community needs,” said Rebecca Hindman. “The district created ‘One Hart’ … can the next superintendent keep up on that momentum.”
Another couple attending the forum, who did not provide their names, commented on some of the challenges the district faced, saying the district did not always communicate with students and parents well.
Rebecca Hindman added that the new superintendent should be able to deal with financial problems in the school budget, and address safety concerns on and off campus such as bullying, fights and discrimination on diverse campuses.
Debbie Dunn, communications coordinator for the district, said the small turnout could be due to the availability of the online survey.
“We have the online survey available and so everybody is free to respond and give their input for the comfort of their own home and at the time that suits them best,” said Dunn.
The emphasis on having lots of community engagement in the selection of a new superintendent is because it will directly affect the staff, students and parents, said Dunn.
“In the spring, the board identified groups of representatives to participate in input sessions with the search firm, including staff, student, parent and community representatives. A total of 21 small input sessions are scheduled to take place this week in addition to the Open Community Forum,” Dunn wrote in an email to The Signal.
To fill out the survey, visit www.surveymonkey.com/r/JTR9KD5. It will be open until Sept. 20.
A Spanish-language survey can be found at es.surveymonkey.com/r/JMX5KF7.
