Sisters residents make rough sketch of new superintendent

Sisters School District residents came together on Thursday, January 4 to create a template of what their next superintendent will look like. After three hour-long sessions, the final composite of the day, like any sketch, yielded only a rough image of the new district CEO.

Honesty, integrity and hard-working ranked high on the list of requisite qualities; yet, specific details of what these words mean were missing.

Betsy Miller-Jones, the Oregon School Boards Association consultant who has been hired by the school board to spearhead the superintendent's search, facilitated the three meetings.

Miller-Jones explained, "This initial step is to determine the qualities and qualifications the community is recommending the board incorporate into the superintendent search."

As a caveat she added that the ideal person the district creates may not, in reality, exist.

Even amidst unanswered requests from citizens for public disclosure by the school board about the resignation of current superintendent Ted Thonstad, the participants laid a plethora of desired qualities and qualifications the new superintendent should possess on the table (see related article, page 1).

According to Miller-Jones, district residents want a leader who will be a trusted advisor to the school board. He or she must be an effective communicator, serving as the district's public relations ambassador outwardly with the community, as well as in house with the staff and board. The person should have a passion for education - being a "put kids first" type of individual.

The word "global" was reiterated time and again at all three sessions, Miller-Jones said. Residents have a vision of a superintendent who is global-minded and who will make Sisters students globally competitive.

Miller-Jones said that participants in the public forum defined this quality more specifically than most.

"It came out that in five years, they (the taxpayers) would like the district to be globally competitive," she said.

As a step in achieving this goal Susanna Harrison, whose two children attend Sisters schools, promotes insuring that every student is fluent in a second language within five years.

Other qualities that residents see as essential are a superintendent who has the ability to not only implement projects but also follow them through to completion. Miller-Jones said that community consensus supports "...a visionary who can implement creatively by communicating outwardly to the community and inwardly to the school community."

This means, Miller-Jones explained, that the individual must be able to serve as a "bridge between the board, community and the staff who builds support and unifies the district."

As the image of the next superintendent was sketched in, an individual with effective fiscal, budgetary and planning skills came to the forefront.

Citizens also want an individual who will live in the Sisters School District and assume an active role working with all community and civic groups. According to Miller-Jones, the ability to network with the city council, especially on growth issues, is another high-priority item to district residents.

She also pointed out that the community wants a superintendent who recognizes and effectively addresses issues that arise from the fact that "the school district is more than just Sisters. ... It is all those other areas around."

Approximately 75 residents attended the three sessions. Impressed by the level of community interest in finding the right person, Miller-Jones said: "This is a very impressive turnout for a community the size of Sisters. It really reflects the interest and passion for education that this community has and their commitment to the schools."

At the January 8 school board meeting, Miller-Jones presented a summary of the information gleaned from the qualities and qualifications sessions for the board's consideration and adoption. She remarked, "It will be very public what they adopt, so you will see it in a very forward looking light."

Oregon law requires school boards to provide the public with the opportunity to submit input about the qualities and qualifications a new leader should possess. Miller-Jones explained that some boards include the public input requirement as an agenda item at a school board meeting, allocating only a brief time slot for public discussion.

"Your board has chosen to really make this a truly open, public process," Miller-Jones said. Additionally, Miller-Jones encourages anyone with comments or concerns to e-mail them to her at [email protected]