By David Fleet
Editor
Brandon Twp. — Hiring a superintendent is perhaps the most challenging task a school board faces. The search process in both Goodrich and Brandon school districts had been ongoing for several years.
In December, the Goodrich Board of Education voted to accept the resignation of veteran Superintendent Wayne Wright. He was pulled out of retirement and brought in as interim in 2019 while a future succession plan for a permanent superintendent was implemented. Goodrich High School Principal Mike Baszler was his replacement effective Jan. 31.
The Brandon Board of Education continues to seek a permanent superintendent which has been open since October of 2020 when Matt Outlaw stepped down. Since then the district has had interim superintendents and one perminate that was hired and did not fit.
In both school districts the arduous process requires time, funds and just the right candidate that meets a host of criteria. For a variety of reasons the search tasks have become even more demanding nationwide.
The Education Advisory Board or EAB, is a consulting firm specializing in education institutions serving about 2,500 schools, colleges and universities.
The EAB recently conducted a poll of 141 superintendents from across 32 states designed to provide current superintendents with data about the experiences, needs, and perspectives of their peers.
The first round of the 2022 Voice of the Superintendent Survey was distributed online from Dec. 6, 2021 to Feb. 3, 2022.
The poll found that 46 percent of superintendents who resonded are considering or planning to leave their role in the next two to three years and that more than a third of experienced superintendents, those with six or more years of tenure, are planning on retiring within that time frame. It also found that eight in 10 superintendents say that navigating politically divisive conversations is the most challenging part of their job today.
Some of the findings include: The past two years during Covid, have taken a profound toll on school superintendents including unrelenting waves of variants along with fierce divisions over everything from mask mandates to discussions about racism in classrooms. They will need help from peers, partners, and other community leaders to move beyond today’s crises and forge a new chapter for public education.
The survey also listed four superintendent priorities: 89 percent, expand access to mental health care; 92 percent, market public schools to local communities; 56 percent, explore automation as a solution to staff shortages; 69 percent, evaluate preparation for post-secondary success.
Lisa Hagel is the Michigan Leadership Institute Executive Director. The MLI assists school boards statewide, like Brandon and Goodrich in finding superintendents and leadership positions.
“The bigger picture now is how difficult it is to find educators,” she said. “Right now there are less teachers and (as a result) less administrators, people at one time aspired to be (school) administrators.”
Kerr said social media, uninformed groups and Covid have impacted those opting to become a superintendent in Michigan.
“The school boards and community have to be supportive of the superintendent,” she said. “It’s a very stressful job, that is life-changing.”
Kerr said that superintendents are now seeking jobs year-round rather than during the typical June or end of the school year.
“We are receiving applications all the time and there are some wonderful people in the pipeline,” she said.