School Board Establishes Timeline for Superintendent Search

If all goes as tentatively planned, Oconee County Schools will have a new superintendent by mid-March of 2012.

at the close of the school year.  He made the announcement early in the year to give the Board sufficient time to secure a replacement, he said.

Along with a , the Oconee County Board of Education held a called meeting Wednesday to lay out the parameters of the search.

The Board chose Chairman David Weeks to serve as the contact between the Board and the GSBA and agreed administrative assistant Deborah Epps would be the staff contact that would provide the GSBA with district information.

GSBA search leader Jim Puckett advised the Board to discuss both a timeline for the search and draft a list of qualifications to be included in a brochure about the vacancy that will be sent to all 49 other state school board associations and numerous school districts around the state and region.

By keeping the descriptions of qualifications broad, the Board hopes to attract many applicants.

"I think we might want to cast a wide net for the pool of applicants to try to get as much interest as possible with our application process, " Chairman Weeks said.

The last search was narrower, he said following the meeting.  The Board wished to widen this one and believes the GSBA can make that happen, which is the reason consultants where hired, he added.

Though Oconee Schools opted against conducting a search with the help of the GSBA in 2008-09, the system had contracted its services twice in the past: once in 1999-2000 and again 2004-05.

Wednesday the Board drafted a list of qualifications by tweaking those that appeared on its 2004-05 brochure. The list, which is not final, includes:

• Successful experience as a central office administrator or principal preferred with required experience as a classroom teacher.
• Outstanding leadership skills in curriculum, instruction and personnel management,
• Team-building approach to educational leadership and commitment to maintaining open communication and fostering cooperative relations among the school district, the Board of Education, and community leaders and organizations.
• Visionary and innovative approaches to education.
• A proven record of sound fiscal management, including budgeting and educational finance.
• Effective leadership and management skills in a growing educational environment.
• High standards of ethical and moral conduct; a role model.
• High expectations of personnel in the areas of leadership, professional conduct, and support of the school system.
• Effective public speaker, with demonstrated written and oral communication skills.
• Involved in school and community activities.
• Holds or is eligible for a Georgia Leadership Certificate at the L-6 or higher level. 

Puckett will word the qualifications in several ways and return the list to the Board for review.

A few of the key dates in the search are as follows:

• First part of November- Final approval of a brochure by the Board of Education; its distribution; notice of vacancy posted on the Oconee Schools, the GSBA website, and that of the other 49 school boards association across the nation.
• Friday, Jan. 6- Application deadline.
• Final week of January- First round of interviews.  Decide about second interviews.
• Second week in February- Selection of finalists (Up to 3) announced to the public.
• At least 14 days after finalists announced (end of February- beginning of March)- Employ new superintendent during open meeting.

Sometime within the next couple of weeks, an online survey will be posted on the _school system's website_ for the general public to give input that the Board will consider during the selection process. 

What qualifications do you think a good candidate for superintendent should possess?