Finding school chief candidates is difficult

The search for a new Sisters school superintendent has quietly entered its fifth week. School Board Chairman Jeff Smith thinks it's going well. But he and others involved know that finding the right person in today's political and fiscal environment will be more difficult than usual.

The large and growing future deficit projection for PERS (the Public Employees Retirement System) is complicating the search.

It is making some experienced candidates who ordinarily would consider trying for an attractive superintendency opt for early retirement instead. Many veteran teachers and administrators are thinking of "getting out"and locking in retirement benefits for fear of what the 2003 Legislature might do to reform the system.

The same pressure is expected to increase the number of superintendency vacancies; Smith says 29 districts are advertising for a new chief administrator in Oregon today.

Thus, the PERS problem is decreasing the supply of potential candidates while increasing the statewide demand for their services.

The Sisters board has contracted with the Oregon School Boards Association to help conduct its search.

Redmond School Superintendent Jerry Colonna is acting as the chief liaison between Sisters and the OSBA.

He said recently that six or seven potential candidates had contacted him directly and expressed their intention to submit applications, a sign that board chairman Smith found encouraging.

The Sisters vacancy is being created by the departure of the current superintendent, Steve Swisher, who said in November that he will retire in April, although he offered to work until the end of the school year to help with the transition.

The opening was formally announced December 10 and the application period will close February 28.

While the OSBA search effort is concentrating on Oregon, notice of the opening has been placed on web sites monitored by school administrators across the country.

Thanks to the Internet, Smith says, the search is "truly national."

A screening committee consisting of the five school board members and 14 other citizens representing a variety of interests has been selected to help with the winnowing.

After Smith drives to the OSBA office in Salem to pick up the bundle of applications on Monday, February 24, the committee will have the rest of that week to review the files. The members will meet that Saturday for their first evaluation of the applicants on paper.

Eventually three to five finalists will be brought to town for extensive discussions with school people and other members of the community.

The finalists will be publicly identified and their sessions will be open.

However, all of the earlier proceedings and discussions of candidates will be confidential.

The board chairman hopes that a new superintendent can be chosen by early April.

Swisher was hired as Sisters' Superintendent in 1996.