What should we do about the position of superintendent which will soon be vacant?
After a 90-minute discussion at Monday’s regular School Board meeting, on whether to appoint some unidentified person already on staff to the position or go out for a professional search, the board decided to give themselves a week to gather information and public input.
It set a special meeting for 7 p.m. next Monday, Sept. 19, at Rawsonville Elementary School to decide what to do about it. The location was chosen because it would accommodate more audience than the Administration Building and had better acoustics than South Middle School.
At a workshop session on Aug. 29, interim School Supt. Tom Riutta announced he would be leaving his position at the end of the day on Jan. 27.
He has been in the interim position for three years. The board had considered his services a bargain, since he was an experienced, contracted employee and they paid no benefits.
At the beginning of Monday’s discussion, Board President Martha Toth gave a lengthy comment on “the state of the district, as I see it.”
She referred to school districts to the west of Van Buren that are “foundering ships” that may not survive economically and she noted, “That could be us.”
She said if the state allows unlimited schools of choice, the only way to stop Van Buren’s decline is to get better immediately.
She said two primary ways to get better is to get the students engaged and to get teachers better trained.
She urged the board to act quickly to get an educational leader in place who can engage the staff and has internalized educational instincts, so action can be taken quickly.
Toth called for “a new leader in this make-it-or-break-it effort.”
“We must get better at what we do immediately … if staff is too aggrieved, we may have to leave them behind,” Toth said.
She said this community has a lot of families who have lived here for generations, including herself, and, “We can become complacent.”
She said because their children turned out OK, they believe the present students are “doing just fine.”
“They are not doing just fine,” Toth said. “We don’t have the same students or community that we had 10 years ago.”
She said students don’t come to school as prepared as they used to. The students don’t read for enjoyment, as they did in the past.
“The standards they are being asked to reach are getting higher and higher,” Toth said.
“I wanted us to be clear in what we need,” she said to the board, adding they have to find that kind of leader.
Trustee Scott Russell said he likes options and doesn’t want just one person presented for consideration, but more like 10 people. He said the Taylor schools were looking for a superintendent and found 12 candidates.
Russell said he wanted to go out for a search and didn’t care whether it was a fast or slow search. He wanted to consider in-house candidates as well.
“After we have all of our options in front of us, we can deliberate,” Russell said.
Trustee Sherry Frazier said she wished Riutta would be staying through June, but Toth said that was not at issue here.
Trustee Kevin English said he had coffee with a consultant from the Michigan Association of School Boards and the consultant said candidates aren’t out there now. Also, English said, this district doesn’t want someone who would leave his job in the middle of the year to come here because he could leave Van Buren in the same way in the future.
“The process should be fast. We have no time to waste,” said Trustee Toni Hunt.
Russell rejected the idea that there are no qualified individuals out there and said he felt a quick decision could lead to “haste makes waste.”
Toth reminded board members that the selection of a superintendent is the most important decision a board makes.
Board Secretary Brenda McClanahan said the district is in the middle of a deficit reduction plan right now and it needs someone who will lead the district academically.
“It took Mr. Riutta two years to learn the layout,” Hunt said, urging speed. She said she is sure there are a lot of candidates that weren’t happy in their old district or the district wasn’t happy with them.
“We need someone who knows the kids and knows the community,” Hunt said.
English said the district could use an internal candidate who is already dedicated to the district.
Toth said with external candidates, “We don’t know them.” She said the district has had superintendents who were in-house candidates in the past and it was difficult for them to make decisions that might hurt a person they know. She said in this community you will see deal-making and “if you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.”
“I’m all for promoting people from within if they … measured up,” Frazier said.
Binert said he’s seen two superintendent searches. One ended up with internal candidate Jim Richendollar and the second was external candidate Pete Lazaroff, which cost $10,000 and five months of time.
“I’m not willing to waste the time and money,” Binert said. “We should start looking at what we have internally. If that’s not successful, go on a search.”
“If we choose to do a traditional search, we should get an interim to serve to the end of the year,” Toth said.
After more discussion, Russell said, “I think we need to be methodical. It could blow up and people in the community would say we have not been transparent.” He added that the board needs transparency, and not decisions made quickly and with very little deliberation.
“We have to do something NOW,” said Hunt. “I’m not going to change my mind.”
Barbara Miller, a Belleville attorney and former school board member, said she endorses a search and didn’t think it was fair to the community to not look for the best candidate.
“A professional search is very appropriate,” Miller said, adding that you don’t just take a person and say you are chosen.
“You have a duty to the community to search for the best candidate,” Miller continued. “I would be disappointed in your due diligence if you didn’t have a search.”
Deb Lazaroff, widow of the late superintendent, also urged the board to do a search.
Resident Charity Fielder, who said she had three children in the district, asked the board if it had somebody in mind for the position.
Russell said that certain names have “floated to the top”.
“Do you want to talk names now?” Toth said and Frazier said, “No.”
According to informed sources, the name “floating to the top” most frequently is BHS Principal Michael Van Tassel, who is poised to open the new high school next fall and is overseeing the New Tech school within a school at BHS this year.
Toth said at next Monday’s meeting she expects to have information on how much a search would cost, how long it would take, and hiring an interim while they search.
There may be presentations from search firms, as well.
The board will consider whether it wants to go with an internal candidate or start the search, she said.