Ann Arbor school board to host day of public forums on superintendent search
The Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education announced a marathon series of four forums in one day to give community members an opportunity to weigh in on qualities they hope to see in the district's next superintendent.
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Ann Arbor Public Schools Superintendent Patricia Green addresses Huron High School's class of 2013 at graduation Wednesday night.
Courtney Sacco | AnnArbor.com
- 9 to 11 a.m. in the Pioneer High School Cafeteria
- 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the downtown Ann Arbor Public Library's fourth floor board room
- 5 to 7 p.m. in the Skyline High School Commons
- 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. in the Huron High School Cafeteria
About three board trustees will be present at each event. Parents, students, teachers and staff and district residents are encouraged to attend and share their thoughts and advice on the superintendent selection process.
Superintendent Patricia Green, who was hired and signed a five-year contract in July 2011, will be retiring in one month, after just two years at the helm of the AAPS.
This superintendent search is the fourth for Ann Arbor since 2002. AAPS has had five superintendents in the past 10 years, including interim Robert Allen, the deputy superintendent of operations who also recently left the district to take a new job.
The Board of Education is working with Iowa-based consulting firm Ray & Associates to find a replacement for Green. The service is being performed at a minimal cost to AAPS since the firm also was used to hire Green, and her early departure falls under a "satisfaction guarantee" clause from the district's previous contract with Ray & Associates.
Candidates interested in the superintendency have until June 14 to apply. The posting went up online on May 10. The job has been advertised as paying $180,000 to $220,000.
The Board of Education scheduled its day of public forums for after the application deadline so trustees would receive the public's feedback during the same time period in which they are reviewing the applications.
The board's intent is to have a new superintendent in place prior to the start of the 2013-14 academic year.
The Ann Arbor Public Schools also posted an online survey on superintendent qualities for community members to complete. The survey will close on June 14.
Danielle Arndt covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. Follow her on Twitter @DanielleArndt or email her at daniellearndt@annarbor.com.
Comments
ligrasp
Wed, Jun 19, 2013 : 3:46 p.m.
What, in fact, are the responsibilities of the superintendent that make this position one for which no one in Ann Arbor is qualified? I just don't understand why it is necessary to hire an out-of-state search firm to solicit out-of-state applicants. Why is this not something that could be handled by the BOE?
Alan Goldsmith
Fri, Jun 7, 2013 : 12:20 p.m.
Will there be Board paid for snacks at the public forums?
Chester Drawers
Fri, Jun 7, 2013 : 12:35 p.m.
Only for the board trustees!
Usual Suspect
Fri, Jun 7, 2013 : 12:17 p.m.
Are they going to listen to anything us little people has to say, or is this just for show?
A2comments
Fri, Jun 7, 2013 : 12:13 p.m.
They should hire someone that: a) Cuts the deadwood b) Doesn't let the unions drive any process. All decisions get made for the best student education result. c) FInancial planning seems to be a joke in the district. There is no reason that line item by line item it can't be gone through and progress made at cutting waste.
GetRealA2
Fri, Jun 7, 2013 : 1:11 a.m.
Oh goodie, let's form a committee, or in this case, conduct multiple forums to help those who are supposedly in charge make a decision! The experts can't do it on their own? After considering the input from all of the locals--many of whom probably don't have kids in the school system, but just want to pontificate because they have nothing better to do--the position should be filled by 2016 at the earliest.
JRW
Fri, Jun 7, 2013 : 1:08 a.m.
This is just PR. Nothing said in any of these "input" sessions will make any difference whatsoever. These searches are done with a handful of candidates already in the pipeline, and have connections to AAPS. AAPS will hire whoever they wish and community input is just to appease parents.
Maria Huffman
Fri, Jun 7, 2013 : 4:12 p.m.
I do not believe that to be true. I've been to a couple of forums, they are civil, smart, and with many diverse individuals speaking their minds, and I believe them to be speaking honestly. I am proud of Ann Arbor and proud of all the people who come and speak up.
TryingToBeObjective
Fri, Jun 7, 2013 : 12:53 a.m.
Now, if only we could get them to host a day of public forum for a new BOE search. Lunch provided, of course. It only pennies.
Bertha Venation
Fri, Jun 7, 2013 : 12:45 p.m.
@Trying... I like the way you think! I'll bring the potato salad... NO COST!
DonBee
Fri, Jun 7, 2013 : 12:09 a.m.
The survey still requires you to select 10 of the attributes. No one can only vote for 1 or 2. Normally I don't agree with Ms. Lesko, but today I absolutely do. I doubt anything said in any of these forums will matter at all. The board will pick someone they like, not someone that can get the job done. I expect that AAAA will work hard to get one of their members selected to replace Dr. Green, it seems they may be holding out on their pay changes as a lever to get one of their own as superintendent, that way they will not have to meet their key performance indicators, that Dr. Green set for them. Anyway, it will be a couple more years of the same old same old, until either the board changes in 2015, or the new "new" superintendent leaves in a couple of years following Dr. Green's pattern. The board would be better off to bring in a non-education person to fix the financial picture, and then promote from within in 2 years, with the knowledge that the interim superintendent would have a 2 year term, focused on financial improvement.
ViSHa
Fri, Jun 7, 2013 : 3:57 a.m.
"I expect that AAAA will work hard to get one of their members selected to replace Dr. Green, it seems they may be holding out on their pay changes as a lever to get one of their own as superintendent, that way they will not have to meet their key performance indicators, that Dr. Green set for them." Okay now i'm afraid....very afraid. I REALLY hope you are wrong.
YouSaidWhat?
Fri, Jun 7, 2013 : 12:03 a.m.
Shocking that in the survey no mention of business acumen, budgeting, and financial skills.
SonnyDog09
Thu, Jun 6, 2013 : 11:07 p.m.
We will probably get a "status quo" superintendent, because the BoE are status quo kind of people. What we need is someone with experience cutting out the dead wood from the organization. Someone who has experience "right sizing" an organization. If they earned the nickname "the axe" or "the knife" at a previous position, all the better. Instead, this BoE will likely select a new superintendent that will spend countless hours in committee meetings and with focus group rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
Patricia Lesko
Thu, Jun 6, 2013 : 10:19 p.m.
As much as I'd like to think all of this effort is going to pay off, I just have no confidence in most of the BOE members anymore. A majority of them voted to give the current Sup. $70K more than the previous one for no reason other than they act like money grows on trees. Then, they allowed Green to give her cabinet raises. When Green resigned and made a fool of the lot of them, Deb Mexicotte put out a ridiculous letter in support of the Board's selection of Green. A majority of the BOE members insisted on keeping their $5K snack budget then pink-slipped teachers all over the District. The BOE supported a budget that cut sports and theater instead of requiring District staffers to stop eating out on the public dime to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars every month. They'll hire another Sup with the help of the search firm that served up the last mess on a platter instead of putting the District's CFO on notice that zero-based budgeting needs to be in place no later than September 2013. There's feet-dragging aplenty because zero-based budgeting is gonna reveal all manner of ugly financial secrets. In 2014, two great candidates are planning to run for the BOE, and I hope more people step forward. We don't need more meetings and input. We need to get rid of the BOE members who've voted in support of these terribly damaging policies and decisions.
TryingToBeObjective
Fri, Jun 7, 2013 : 11:20 a.m.
Probably the idea where she wasn't vested in the AAPS and their well being, as evidenced by he FACT that Green was allowed to spend a LOT of time out of state, not on the job. If the super can do the job via email, sign me up. I can squeeze it in at my convenience, and I AM vested in the AAPS.
Maria Huffman
Fri, Jun 7, 2013 : 5:07 a.m.
To Pat Lesko, which forum meeting are you attending? And which idea of Dr. Green didn't you like, closing the achievement gap through positive behavior support or zero based budgeting?
Wake Up A2
Thu, Jun 6, 2013 : 10:05 p.m.
And in three years we will back at it again. I wonder if they will use the same survey again.