School board debates eliminating resident reps on committee
By Scott Bellile
The New London School Board will again incorporate members of the public and district staff in interviewing candidates for the superintendent opening following debate over whether to continue seeking their input last week.
At a school board meeting April 15, the discussion started when board member John Heideman said he wants the superintendent search to be an open process but was concerned few district residents would volunteer to be part of it.
“Because community-wise it seems like so many times on our hires, we pick the same people [to participate in the search] over and over and over again,” Heideman said. “And I think there’s a lot of people who have a voice. I’d like to see some variety at the table.”
Board member Mark Grossman responded by questioning the value of involving community members in the first place because school board members are responsible for hiring staff.
“I look at it from when I signed up to do this … my view on it was is that if I get elected, I’m to represent the public, to represent the district in whatever we’re doing,” Grossman said. “So I should have somewhat of a pulse on what they’re thinking out there.”
Board President Terry Wegner said he would be open to modifying the community input process, but the traditional public input practices provided valuable feedback in searches and displayed transparency.
Superintendent Dennis Krueger said traditionally the public input process has involved placing residents on one or two blended committees alongside district staff members, depending on the number of volunteers.
These blended committees serve an advisory role. While they can suggest job interview questions and who they think deserves the job, ultimately the board members make the hiring decision, Krueger said.
Involving the public could open the possibility of people bringing their personal agendas to the hiring process, Grossman said.
Having district staff serve on these blended committees should prevent members of the public from exercising agendas, Krueger said.
Grossman also questioned the value of involving staff in the search. Where he works in the private sector, employees do not interview candidates to become their bosses.
If the staffers recommend one finalist for the job and the school board hires the other, then a portion of the workforce could have a negative attitude toward their new superintendent on day one, Grossman said.
He said he preferred to survey district staff on what traits they wish to see in their next superintendent.
“I can see your point as to not having teachers or staff involved in hiring their boss,” board member-elect Pete Bosquez said, “but I think it would be a good idea to have community members in there because ultimately they are the boss.”
“Well, the challenge there is most of the community has no idea what happens in the school district – its responsibilities, what this person’s job is or even what the board’s job is,” Wegner replied.
Board member-elect Tina Ruckdashel said at the Head Start program where she works, a parent helps staff conduct candidate interviews and brings a fresh perspective to the table.
Ultimately the board decided to continue its practice of involving the public and staff.
Also that night, the school board approved Krueger’s resignation. He will leave New London for a superintendent position in the School District of West De Pere on July 1.
Interviews for Krueger’s successor will likely take place in four-hour blocks the evenings of May 14-15 or May 15-16.
Community members had to apply by Friday, April 26, to serve on a selection committee.
The school board plans to discuss interview questions at its next meeting on Monday, May 6.
Public release of candidates’ names
During the April 15 meeting, board member Kim Schroeder asked if the board could recommend superintendent applicants for interviews in closed session and if doing so would prevent the public release of their names.
Her concerns stemmed from the Green Bay Press-Gazette filing an open records request for the names of six semifinalists for the superintendent position at West De Pere that Krueger ultimately accepted. The Press-Gazette published the individuals’ names prior to their first interviews for the job.
“By releasing those initial six [names] before any of us even interviewed, they caused undue stress in all six of those communities … when they really only needed to do that for the finalists in my opinion,” Krueger said.
Krueger said the semifinalists were chosen in a closed-session meeting, however.
Outgoing school board member Chris Martinson said West De Pere’s school district could have petitioned a court to bar the release of the semifinalists’ names but instead chose to release them rather than fight the records request.
Krueger, Heideman and Schroeder said they hope news outlets, including the Press Star, do not file open records requests for the semifinalists’ names and publish them.
Traditionally the Press Star has published the names of finalists for jobs, but not semifinalists, in order to save earlier-round interviewees from uncomfortable situations with their current employers.
On the other hand, once someone is named a finalist, they should inform their school board right away because the expectation is the school district will make the news public at that point, Wegner said.