School Board Superintendent Search

I attended a clergy feedback session with representatives from the firm that is recruiting the new school superintendent for Orange County Public Schools.  It went longer than scheduled, but what do you expect when you have a group of pastors who all have opinions that they like to share.

We were asked three questions: 1) Name some positive qualities would you want to be shared with a candidate about the schools in Orange County.  2) Give some positive qualities about the Orlando region—why would a candidate want to move to Orange County and place his children in the public schools and be a part of this community?  3) What impediments might a candidate find in leading the school system forward?

The positive quality that I shared regarding the schools was the good relationship that we have with Killarney Elementary.  We support the teachers and we have and great after-school program at the school.  I also shared about the commitment and love that the faculty and staff have for the students.  This is exemplified in the fact that students who move out of the district (often homeless children living in motels and families in transition) find ways to be able to come back and attend Killarney.

The positive qualities shared by the group about Orlando included the diversity of the community and the fact that it is a young city and does not have come of the problems and dilapidation of much older urban areas.

A variety of things were shared in regard to impediments including lack of funding , gangs, bureaucracy etc…  Early in the session the facilitators shared that most superintendents of large districts have short tenures (3-5 years).  I compared this search to pastor search committees.  Often pastors have short tenures because they are not a fit for the church.  I said that the search committees do not always include some of the most influential people in the church and therefore the match is between the pastor and people who are not going to be the one that he is going to have to work with to build a vision and to achieve buy-in and develop effective strategies for fulfilling the vision.  If the prospective candidate for Orange County is going to be a good fit, he needs to know the individuals and groups that have the most power and influence in the school system.  They need to dialog and understand the core values and parameters that are going to be there for Orange County Schools.  This group must go beyond the search team.

As far as my requests for the new superintendent, I said that I wanted someone who respect parents and the local community.  I am a proponent of local control of education, rather than one-size-fits-all models and programs handed down from above (state and federal departments of education).  The competition of public schools with charter schools, vouchers, private and home schools was discussed during the session.  I believe that one of the reasons parents give push back against public schools is that the school systems and departments of education do not always do well in reflecting the values of the parents and the local community when it comes to the philosophy of education and desired outcomes that are mandated by bureaucrats and educational elites.

Most of the group seemed to be very pleased with the current superintendent, Ronald Blocker, and want to improve and build upon the current strengths of the school system.