Sisters hunts for top administrator

John Young, head of the Oregon School Board Association search operation, launched the process to find a replacement for Superintendent Steve Swisher (far right). Photo by Jim Cornelius

Although it was foggy outside, there was no lack of clarity in the meeting room Monday night when a couple dozen area residents described for the Sisters School Board the characteristics they would like to see in the district's next superintendent.

When the hour-long exercise was over, one participant mused, "It sounds like God."

Actually, the workshop participants would rather stick with the superintendent they have. Those who spoke clearly admire outgoing Superintendent Steve Swisher and wish he was not leaving.

Swisher, 52, announced last month that he will officially retire next April, although he will continue to work until the end of the school year in June. He is an applicant for a job as executive director of the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators, a post being vacated by long-time director Ozzie Rose.

The Sisters board has asked for public input to guide its search for a new superintendent. In response, those who attended a special workshop for this purpose constructed an extensive list of qualities.

They said the new superintendent should be: collaborative and cooperative, accessible, a person of vision, a good fund-raiser (seeking private supplements to public money), one who understands teaching and learning rather than just administration.

They also seek a persuasive and articulate public speaker, a good listener, personable and approachable, one who understands Oregon politics, one skilled in dispute resolution and conflict intervention and a person of "impeccable" ethical and moral standards.

School board members themselves offered a few suggestions. Chairman Jeff Smith said the new boss should be a "creative problem solver." Member Glen Lasken said he or she should be "organized and energetic."

And Bill Reed said it was important for the new superintendent to be "involved in the community," participating in service clubs and other groups outside the schools.

Swisher himself volunteered that his successor should know a lot about the technical aspects of running a school system because the Sisters district is not big enough to hire the support staff that takes care of these details in larger districts.

Before patrons were invited to speak, the board heard a presentation from the Oregon School Boards Association, which will act as the hired "executive search" agency just as it did when Swisher was picked six years ago.

John Young, a former superintendent himself and now head of the OSBA search operation, explained the process. He was aided by Jerry Colonna, superintendent of Redmond schools, who will act as a primary consultant. Colonna, who lives at Black Butte Ranch, is probably the best-known superintendent in Central Oregon, serving among other things as chairman of the advisory board for the new Oregon State University -- Cascades.

The OSBA will charge $4,900 as its basic fee for the search, plus travel and other expenses. Young said the number of candidates for superintendencies in Oregon has been shrinking, averaging only 23 in the past two years, while the number of annual openings has been increasing.

Yet he voiced confidence that a district with Sisters' excellent reputation could attract a healthy field of candidates.