Schools

Next Superintendent Should Be 'An Excellent Listener'

What's Newtown looking for in its next superintendent?

Dr. John Reed, currently serving as Interim Superintendent, will be leaving soon. Former Superintendent Janet Robinson was controversial in Newtown but won accolades statewide, including recently being named Superintendent of the Year by the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents.

Now, as the district turns to new applicants, a report from CABE (the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education) will serve as a guide. The group presented its findings, based on months of focus groups and surveys, at a Tuesday night Board of Education meeting.

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"What we heard is you need someone strong and dynamic, sensitive and thoughtful, and direct and honest," said CABE's Mary Broderick. "Somebody knowledgable and motivated, an experienced educator with proven leadership, who speaks with honesty; somebody with an overwhelming desire to work with Newtown in this moment. Someone who acknowledges the unique needs and is able to build on the momentum in student achievement and take it to another level."

About 30 potential candidates have applied for the job, and CABE is meeting this week to look at applications. Some preliminary pre-interviews have been conducted by telephone, Broderick said.

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Other important qualities, from a document released by CABE:

  • "The new superintendent must communicate well, often and consistently, regardless of audience, speaking with honesty, be courageous and on occasion gracefully assertive."
  • "The individual must be an excellent listener, be 'eyes open' about challenges, build teams and create a climate high expectations with accountability."
  • "Business acumen is vitally important, and the leader must be a prudent and resourceful fiscal manager."
  • "The new educator should have a strong curriculum background."

CABE reached out for candidates on national websites and drew a number of applications from out of state, even drawing one inquiry and resume from Italy. Reed marveled at how many applicants were interested in the position and urged officials not to hesitate.

"For us, December is in many ways is a difficult month, due to the uniqueness of that month to Newtown now," he said. "I think there's a reasonable chance you're going to find a successful candidate in this group ... 30 is a very unusual number. And I think you should take every opportunity to accelerate this process. If you know you have two or three people you're going to strongly recommend, that could be scheduled over the next week."

Reed emphasized he meant only for the interviews to be scheduled, not to be conducted. But at least one board member urged the search committee to take its time.

"I don't want to be rushed," said David Freedman. "If we can do it in a week, great. If it takes six months, great. Whatever it takes. We need somebody to guide us through the next century."

The Search Process

More than 575 individuals participated in the superintendent search process, according to CABE documents, and 165 participated in focus groups. The group interviewed a wide swath of residents — the Board of Education, teachers, administrators, parents, PTO leadership, clergy, senior citizens, town officials and even kids themselves.

"That was a very interesting focus group," said Broderick.

Along the way, the focus groups reflected some strengths and weaknesses of the district that could affect the quality of candidates.

"We heard over and over again that the significant strength of the Newtown school system is in its people," said Broderick. "Talented, devoted, caring, courageous, resilient people. Going above and beyond -- your talented and motivated students said that about your teachers."

The most common concern, CABE representatives said, came up in many different ways — but the gist was always the same.

"Many respondents felt there had to be a better way to balance money in the district with the need to offer quality education," said Broderick. "[There's] a little distrust about the education budget. And that was demonstrated recently by the need for multiple referendums. I heard over and over again that the fact people are out talking about the budget early is very important."

She also listed a desire for more frequent communication among and within the schools and the need to restore a sense of safety and security. Other challenges included technology (both a strength and a challenge, she said) and a need to rebuild teacher trust and morale issues.

Read the full report from CABE online on the Newtown school district's website.


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