The Wright City R-II School Board met on Monday, taking another step toward the hiring of its new superintendent for the 2020-21 school year.
Having conducted a public survey, board members …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you are a digital subscriber with an active subscription, or you are a print subscriber who had access to our previous wesbite, then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you have not yet logged in to your account on this new site.
If you are a current print subscriber and did not have a user account on our previous website, you can set up a free website account by clicking here.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue |
The Wright City R-II School Board met on Monday, taking another step toward the hiring of its new superintendent for the 2020-21 school year.
Having conducted a public survey, board members reviewed feedback to gain a clearer understanding of what the community is seeking in a district leader. A recruiter hired through the Missouri School Board Association was present to discuss results of the survey and determine how to move forward.
“We picked out the themes of what people thought should be qualities for the next superintendent,” said Board President Austin Jones. “People were able to say what they did and didn’t like.”
The board reviewed the top three most liked and disliked qualities from a mixed pool of 465 respondents. The majority of the survey response was from parents, at 55.7 percent, with about 29 percent of feedback from school staff and administration and 3 percent from students.
“The response has been consistent — keep the district moving forward and provide learning opportunities for all of our students, along with remaining competitive in our salary schedules to retain staff,” said a statement from the district’s central office.
“The good news was that what the board and administration thought we needed was pretty consistent with feedback we received,” said Jones. “I think there’s good synergy there.”
The board is determined to keep the community engaged and informed in the process.
Thus far the district has 10 candidates for the position to fill the vacancy of Dr. David Buck after his departure at the end of June. Buck is leaving for an identical position in the Lee’s Summit School District.
The application process for R-II superintendent closes on Feb. 17.
The next phase of the search will be on March 8, when the board will review all candidate applications and begin the interview process soon after.
“We’ll make a decision on the top six or so to interview and go from there,” said Jones. “We’re going to pick out 12 canned questions for each person to answer.
“Based upon that we’ll narrow it down to two or three candidates and have them back in for second interview and from there make a decision.”
The goal of the board is to have a finalist selected by the end of March and announced before the April school board election.
“We’re trying to have it done before the election, so that the current sitting board hires the next superintendent,” said Jones.
