Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
School Board plans to choose firm on Oct. 28
When North Mason School District Superintendent Dana Rosenbach announced her retirement in August, the board began preparing for her replacement.
Rosenbach will work throughout the school year and retire June 30.
At a special meeting Monday, the board interviewed four search firms and will choose one at the regular Oct. 28 meeting to lead the hunt for Rosenbach’s successor.
Ray & Associates, Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, McPherson & Jacobson LLC and Northwest Leadership Associates submitted proposals for the board to review.
“We have been highly successful in providing Superintendent search services for Districts that are similar to yours in terms of size, cultural diversity and geographic location, and would welcome the opportunity to do the same for you,” Kathy Schoenfelder, Ray & Associates coordinator of leadership acquisitions, wrote.
The firm recently conducted a superintendent search for North Thurston Public Schools and has assisted Educational Service District 123 in Pasco, Edmonds School District and Everett Public Schools, according to Schoenfelder.
Ray & Associates will actively recruit for the superintendent position, their proposal states.
Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates
has a local team that will also actively
recruit candidates, according to its proposal. The company will prescreen
applicants, provide background checks, conduct interviews, negotiate contracts and assist the board in choosing the best candidate, its proposal states.
In January, the firm plans on presenting candidates to the board so a new superintendent can be selected by late February.
“Our firm’s protocol allows the board to concentrate on the most important segments: the interview and selection of the successful candidate,” McPherson & Jacobson LLC’s owner, Norm Ridder, wrote.
“We understand that students have diverse needs, thus, we focus on the intentional recruitment of a diverse candidate pool that includes ethnic and cultural identity as well as experience in culturally proficient practices that have proven successful in addressing educational equity gaps,” according to Ridder.
“For the past five years, approximately one-third of our applicants have been female and almost one-fourth of our applicants have been ethnically diverse.
“In the past 10 years, one-third of the boards we have represented have placed women or ethnically diverse candidates,” the proposal states.
McPherson & Jacobson will meet with stakeholder groups identified by the board and ask the groups to “identify the strengths of the school district and community, the issues facing the new superintendent, and the characteristics they would like to see the new superintendent possess,” according to the proposal.
The firm anticipates a new superintendent will be hired by late February or early March.
Northwest Leadership Associates, based in Liberty Lake, has “developed a community sensitive search protocol that supports the appropriate balance between meaningful involvement of key stakeholders, while maintaining the final decision-making authority of the Board,” its proposal states.
All of its consultants are retired superintendents from the Pacific Northwest, 11 from Washington and three from Oregon.
“Northwest Leadership Associates is committed to equity in both the recruitment and professional advising of potential candidates as well in the firm’s demographics. As a search firm, of the 13 consultants that provide district search services we presently employ three Latinx, one Native American and three females. We are proud to promote that over half of our consulting staffing relates to classifications of diversity and underrepresented classifications,” according to the proposal.
The firm states it believes it can provide 15 to 20 “highly qualified candidates” for the board to review.
The board should finalize the superintendent selection by mid-February, according to the proposal.
Reader Comments(0)