BOE member involvement in District hiring

[Paul Haggett]

Hello all:

How many of you serve in districts where you have BOE member involvement in hiring of administrative positions?  I personally feel there is a place for board members to be in on interviewing principals, key administrative staff and the like, but a board colleague of mine strongly feels we hire a superintendent to take care of hiring his team.  Thanks for your responses!

 

[Carol Popolow Abraham]

For the upper administration roles we usually have at least one board member on the interview committee. For other administration positions the board leadership will often meet the final one or two candidates before the final decision is made but the final recommendation to hire decision is up to the superintendent.

[LAURIE A DOWNS]

The most important job Board members have is Hiring a Superintendent. We're searching right now. Our Board also allows 2 -3 trustees in hiring Directors, Principals, etc..We do not sit on interviews with teachers. That we leave for the Principals within their respective buildings,we then of course take recommendation from Super.

[Pat Aitken]

The practice may well vary based on the size of the district. Our practice (3,300 students/ 4 schools) is that the board interviews final candidates for all admin positions - Principals, Asst Supts, Dept Coordinators/Directors prior to the final hire decision.
Sometimes it is only a single final candidate, other times it is two candidates. No one has ever viewed this as micro-managing, it is simply a healthy part of the culture in our district.

[Paul Haggett]

Thanks everyone for your input! Good ideas/practices here.

[Suzie Lustig]

Although we don't do interviews, we have recently implemented the practice of reviewing the resumes from the final 3 candidates. In the past, we inconsistently met with final hires but with several big hires coming up we have re-established the practice of also meeting the final candidate before approving a hire.

[Richard A. Drahms]

We hire the Superintendent, he interviews applicants for all administrative positions and subsequently make a recommendation to the Board for approval. In my opinion, having Board members involved in this process would be micromanaging.

[Vanessa Warren]

Our job is to hire the CEO/Superintendent. The superintendent’s job is to make sure appropriate staffing is in place. To me, participating in hiring other than that is micromanagement.

[Heidi Cambareri]

Our BOE members have not been involved in any administrative hires except for Superintendent. I did question this when hiring Assistant Superintendents but as of now this remains the domain of the Supt and the committee he creates. We have requested more information before approving hires however and have an opportunity to review credentials and some other info about recommended candidates.

[Rob Curtis]

A board member sometimes sits on one of the interview committees for administrative hiring. It’s not an expectation that one does but if they are available they may sit on a committee.

[Marissa Mims]

In my district, the board hires our superintendent and the internal claims auditor as these positions report to the board. When we issued RFPs for district counsel and auditors board members, the superintendent and assistant superintendents interviewed the candidates. The board does not interview for other positions. The superintendent keeps the board apprised of the interview process for administrator positions, but makes the decision. I believe this process makes sense as it keeps the board in its governance role.