Board selects priority traits for interim superintendent
Using feedback from 4,162 students, parents, staff and community members, the Northshore School District School Board determined eleven traits desired in an interim superintendent during their May 17 meeting.
The School Board is conducting a search for a high-quality interim superintendent to lead the district for the next year, following the resignation of Dr. Michelle Reid, who is leaving the district after six years to take a superintendency on the East Coast. A robust search will be conducted in the fall for the permanent superintendent, with an expected start date in the summer of 2023.
Survey results
The online survey asking feedback about the district and the interim superintendent qualifications was open May 5-13. The Northshore community was asked to respond to a number of aspects of our district and our work. Participants said the number one selling point is that the district is made up of amazing, caring, and dedicated staff, teachers, students, and parents. You can read the full survey presentation here.
Relationships with our stakeholders is one of the top priorities of the district. Our highest rated characteristic is our relationship with the community, with 74% of respondents saying the district is good or excellent at building relationship with the community and 70% saying the district is good or excellent at building relationships with local organizations.
While 59% of survey respondents stated that the district’s transparency was excellent to good, 14% of respondents stated that transparency was poor.
Respondents were asked to prioritize eight characteristics that are important for the incoming interim superintendent to have. The top eight characteristics selected by survey respondents include:
- Is an effective communicator, creating strong school and community relations
- Is accountable and responsible for actions
- Is a Trusted Leader who values ethics and integrity, by practicing moral authority
- Shows transparency by sharing the organization’s goals and challenges to promote staff engagement
- Leads by example through honest practices
- Provides sustained, systemic, and evidence-based interventions to obtain equitable access to learning for ALL students
- Empowers others by promoting team strengths and students first approach
- Makes strategic, high-quality decisions with big-picture lens, while managing district resources
- Knows stakeholders’ interests through listening and learning continuously
- Maintains a vision focused on the future
- Asks great questions to think and act strategically
In addition to the eight traits selected by survey respondents, the school board also added profile traits 9, 10, and 11.
Participants also responded that Student Support Services should be an immediate focus of the interim superintendent.
Interview questions will be developed to measure these attributes in the candidates.
“I want to say a great thanks to the community for the responses we received,” said Board President Jacqueline McGourty. “It was input well appreciated.”
Northshore School District included an open-ended question for respondents to share other thoughts. District staff are reviewing this feedback and will respond as appropriate. We appreciate everyone taking the time to respond to this survey.
Next steps
Applications will be accepted until May 19. The School Board will continue to meet in closed executive session to determine finalists to interview. The school board is scheduled to deliberate on the final candidates on May 25 and May 27. While both meetings are closed sessions, the board of directors would come out of closed session to vote on the final candidate.
The full Board meeting can be viewed here: https://www.nsd.org/our-district/leadership/school-board/view-board-meeting-materials
The Board will start a robust process for hiring a full-time superintendent this fall, with additional opportunities for community engagement and feedback.