Parents help in search for next superintendent

One more chance

Consultants with the search firm Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates Ltd. will meet with the public at 11 a.m. today at school district headquarters, 110 McDonald Drive, to take comments on the Lawrence district’s superintendent search. An online survey to provide feedback is also available at usd497.org.

Lawrence parents Tuesday night rattled off a wish list for the district’s next superintendent to be a strong manager and skillful communicator who can draw upon outside resources in the area.

“We’re a really diverse community. We really are,” said Carolyn Clark, a parent of two children in the district. “Anyone who comes here would really have to embrace that and celebrate that.”

Eight parents braved the cold and icy weather to come and meet with Al Hanna and David Smith, associates for the search firm Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates Ltd. The school board has hired the firm to lead a national search to replace Superintendent Randy Weseman, who will retire at the end of the school year.

The parents mentioned several issues in the district the new leader would need to address, including needs for special education students, being able to recruit and retain quality teachers from area universities, coordinate resources among schools and keep high academic standards.

Parent Michael Machell, a former school board candidate, said the new superintendent also needs to have a vision for the district’s future and have the “backbone” to implement it.

“We’ve got to be looking at 21st century skills for our kids,” said Machell, a human resources director for a health care company.

Hanna and Smith spent Tuesday meeting with community, school and district groups. They will finish today and make a recommendation to board members at the Monday meeting about candidate criteria to guide the search.

The school board will likely interview a slate of candidates in February. Of the two consultants gathering information this week, Smith, a senior associate with the firm, is a former superintendent in the Chicago area, and Hanna, an associate with the firm, is a deputy superintendent in Johnson County’s Blue Valley school district.