Give input on superintendent search

schoolraisinghand3Though the time frame is too short, it’s good that the Wichita school board is planning to announce the finalists for superintendent today and then to hold public meetings Saturday. District employees (8:30-10:45 a.m.), high school students and media (11 a.m. to noon), and parents and community members (1-4 p.m.) will be able to meet the candidates at Wichita North High School and ask them questions. As United Teachers of Wichita union president Paul Babich noted, there won’t be much time to research the candidates before the Saturday meetings. But at least there will be an opportunity for input. The board earlier had been unsure about whether it would announce finalists and had seemed to care mostly about not wanting to scare off candidates. But if a candidate can’t handle public meetings and some media scrutiny, he shouldn’t be hired.

6 Comments

  1. JWink
    Posted February 27, 2009 at 6:19 am | Permalink

    Why wait until the last minute to reveal their names? Who are the USD 259 superintendent candidates?

  2. JWink
    Posted February 27, 2009 at 6:45 am | Permalink

    Guess we will find out tomorrow, Saturday, at the school board sponsored meetings at North High School to introduce the candidates.

  3. lindainks55
    Posted February 27, 2009 at 8:48 am | Permalink

    I heard they will announce the finalists later today. Our “googles” will be busy trying to find out who they are, what they’ve done…

    I’m so sick of our school board. They’re vying with our City Council and County Commissioners in their attempt to assert only they could possibly know. They treat the electorate as if they were incompetent to understand. Is this because the electorate elected them, and they know how foolish that decision was?

    Are they afraid if they were open and honest with taxpaying citizens they may get input that would be beneficial? Considering everything and being well informed is much harder work than closing your mind.

  4. Regular
    Posted February 27, 2009 at 8:58 am | Permalink

    They should hire a Superintendent that has a ‘comptroller’ mindset in these days of tightened money. Otherwise, they’ll get an idealist who may have a good personal philosophy on education, but is clueless on how to manage a multi-million dollar budget.

  5. TomPaine
    Posted February 27, 2009 at 10:02 am | Permalink

    Wichita seems to be doing ok without a Super, with budget cuts coming maybe they don’t need one after theirs like half a dz asst supers,

  6. the_truth_hurts
    Posted February 27, 2009 at 5:05 pm | Permalink

    Concentrate on making some kind of historic pick for the USD 259 superintendent. Don’t worry about tangible experience or an exemplary track record on anything. Just make sure the candidate is charismatic, can read a teleprompter and promises a lot of change. That’s how we elect U.S. presidents so it’s good enough for a measely superintendent.