Citizens wanted for superintendent search

The Sisters School Board is choosing a screening committee to assist in their search for the district's new superintendent. Any district resident interested in serving as a committee member should submit a short note indicating his or her relationship to the school district and expressing his or her reasons for wanting to be a member of the committee.

Submit notes to the attention of Mary Clark, Sisters School District #6, 525 E. Cascade Ave, Sisters, OR 97759; hand deliver them to the same address; or transmit them via e-mail to [email protected]

From the group of individuals who express interest in serving on the screening committee, board Chairman Rob Corrigan and member Glen Lasken will present the names of 20 to 25 individuals to the board for its approval at their February 12 meeting.

A cross-section of staff, administrators, parents, representatives of the business sector, community members and possibly even a student will be chosen.

"I would be impressed with a student who would be willing to invest himself with that kind of time of a commitment," said school board chairman Rob Corrrigan.

The board's intent is to "assure a variety of viewpoints - administrators, teachers, employees, parents, taxpayers and community leaders - are fairly represented on the committee," Corrigan added.

Betsy Miller-Jones, the Oregon School Boards Association consultant the school board hired to assist with the superintendent's search, hopes that both community members who have lived in Sisters for a long time who no longer have students attending the schools as well as newcomers whether or not they have children in Sisters' schools will want to serve on the committee.

To be a member of the committee, a person must be available to attend two evening meetings, a training workshop on March 5 and a prioritizing session on March 12, as well as read applications on March 6-9. The time commitment required will be substantial.

According to Miller-Jones, it will take committee members about 45 minutes to read each application, although actual time will vary depending upon how fast a person reads and his or her experience with reading personnel files. Miller-Jones anticipates that approximately 20 applications will be submitted.

It is mandatory that each committee member reads every application submitted.

Miller-Jones explained: "In order to participate in ranking the candidates and the recommendation of who should be interviewed, any individual on the screening committee must read all the applications. They can't say, oh gee Betsy, I only had the time to read these three and here's what I thought about them. No deal. ... You've got to read them all."

Miller-Jones pointed out that through the paper screening process, the committee will select the individuals who will be interviewed. She remarked that she continually reminds committee members that they will not be making a final decision.

Committee members will also be asked to maintain complete confidentiality.

They "can't side-discuss who applied or what the applications look like or any of that with anybody else," Miller-Jones cautioned.

She added that such side discussions are prohibited by law not only during the application process but also at any time in the future, even after the new superintendent has been named and is on the job. Miller-Jones warned that something as innocent as admitting that a particular individual had not applied for the position would be a breach of the confidentiality requirement. The only response a committee member may give about those who applied for the position is "no comment whatsoever."

As a condition of serving on the committee, Miller-Jones will ask members to sign a confidentiality agreement.

Miller-Jones will conduct a mandatory training session for committee members on the evening of March 5.

She will provide information about judging applications against the qualities and qualifications the new superintendent should possess and teach committee members how to evaluate a résumé looking for gaps in work history, whether or not the individual's highest educational degree is applicable to the position, how the person has instituted change in his or her district and the like.

She will also provide techniques for evaluating letters of recommendation by looking at the type of language used, determining who wrote the letter and reading between the lines rather than judging the letter writer's skills.

After the paper screening process has been completed, members of the screening committee will likely be asked to continue to participate and observe as the search process continues.