Norwalk BoE questioning seven superintendent candidates

May 12, 2015

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BoE 15-0505 052 — Norwalk interim Superintendent of Schools James Connelly, left, and Board of Education Chairman Mike Lyons confer at last week’s BoE meeting.

NORWALK, Conn. – Four 10-way Skype sessions marked Norwalk’s superintendent search Monday night.

The Board of Education interviewed four candidates via Skype, Board of Education Chairman Mike Lyons said. That leaves three for another Skype session on Wednesday.

All nine Board members were visible on the screen along with each interviewee. “Anyone can talk. We take turns asking questions, and we can all see and hear each other,” Lyons said, as the session was ongoing.

“By next Tuesday we should have whittled the group down to two or three finalists, and the plan is to in-person interview them on the 26^th,” Lyons said.

The goal is to announce the selected candidate during the week of June 8, he said.

The Board has been working to get a new superintendent by July 1. Norwalk interim Superintendent of Schools James Connelly recently said he thought that was a little optimistic.

The Board is using the same job profile it used when it found Norwalk Superintendent of Schools Manny Rivera two years ago, with two major differences: The profile specifies that the new superintendent must be willing to implement the strategic plan developed under Rivera, and it announces that the board is looking for a superintendent who will stay here.

“The Board is looking for a courageous, strong implementer who is willing to establish roots in the community for a significant period of time, and who can move forward with reforms even in the face of resistance,” the profile states.

Comments

4 responses to “Norwalk BoE questioning seven superintendent candidates”

Piberman

May 12, 2015

Our City is making progress. So far we’ve not heard “demands” by certain civic “leaders”, union heads, BOE members, politicians and other “important people” for an “open” search so that the “important” people can influence the search.

Kudos to the BOE under Mike Lyons for demonstrating to our community (and City Hall) how to do a professional search. For the second time. Even with the handicap of certain Democrats who claim they’re subject to unspecified “discrimination”.

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Oldtimer

May 12, 2015

National statistics seem to go against the “stay here” requirement. School superintendents across the country tend to stay an average of 2.5 to 3.2 years with the number increasing, but not a lot. Numerous studies on the subject suggest that dysfunctional schoolboards are a frequently cited reason for leaving when reform-minded superintendents, hired for that quality, find the support for reform is not really there.

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Lisa Thomson

May 12, 2015

Old timer – we DO have a 6-3 reform Board of Ed and hopefully voters know who they are by now (Lyons, Barbis, Keyes, Harris, Kassimis and Meek.) We also have some folks on the board who make headlines. However, this district, it’s performance and its curriculum are in better shape now than it was 10 years ago when my kids were in elementary. Progress IS being made. There is more rigour and the standards are higher for our students than in 2005. Hopefully, NON will run a story on all the fantastic colleges that the Class of 2015 is getting into – for kids of ALL colors and creeds and nationalities. It is a good story!

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Mike Lyons

May 12, 2015

Oldtimer, sad but true. We need not just a good superintendent but also a supportive Board. We are looking at ways of setting compensation to incentivize the next superintendent to stay, but he or she needs full Board support, not just support of the majority, for long-term success.

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