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District proceeds with superintendent search: Finalist could be named next week
By Bill Conrad, bconrad@starlocalnews.com
PLANO -- A lone finalist for the open superintendent position in Plano ISD could be named as early as Tuesday during a special called meeting of the board of trustees.
The search for the replacement for Dr. Doug Otto, who retired in January after 17 years at the helm of Plano ISD, began in December when the school board hired the firm of Thompson and Horton to facilitate a nationwide search. That search yielded 28 applicants, who have been whittled down over the past few weeks.
"We had an executive session where we read over each and every [application] packet that we were given," said Nancy Humphrey, the board's vice president. "As a board we probably spent 40 hours determining who we are as a district and where we want to be. Given that information and that background, the qualifications and attributes we were looking for became apparent. Those are the things we were looking for with those resumes."
She said all timetables are tentative, so the April 10 date for naming a finalist could be pushed back. However, if a lone finalist is named at that meeting, the person could be officially hired at the May 1 meeting since the state-mandated 21-day waiting period would be completed.
One important step in the process is the site visit, said David Thompson of Thompson and Horton. During the visit, Plano trustees will be able to meet with the applocant's colleagues to get a more complete picture of the candidate.
"At the time the visit occurs, the trustees will have already done the detailed background analysis and checked the candidate's references," he said. "When you get to the point of the decision you want to have a face-to-face meeting with people who have worked with the candidate. These people include senior staff, teachers, parent leaders, trustees and members of local PTOs and PTAs."
Thompson said it is important to note that his firm doesn't help the district narrow down the candidates. He said all of the information the firm receives is passed on to the trustees, ensuring the firm is not favoring any candidate or trying to influence the selection process.
The job was listed in various national publications to ensure the best candidates applied for the job, said Mike Moses, a former superintendent in Dallas ISD who is working with Thompson and Horton on the search. He said the job received interest from 10 different states, with the candidates having a variety of backgrounds both in and out of the educational world.
"We had high-quality sitting superintendents apply, so we were very pleased with the quality of the people the board is considering," Moses said. "The Plano name is still a very good name and the Plano brand is still a very good brand. We got good interest and we have some high-quality people who were wanting to take a look at this job."
Of the 28 applicants, Moses said 17 are sitting superintendents, four are assistant superintendents, five hold other administrative positions and one is a school principal. The final applicant is a policy director at a nonprofit, a candidate Moses called non-traditional since their background was not in education. Moses said another 50 of so people expressed interest in the position, but didn't officially apply for one reason or another.
Humphrey said the board hopes the new superintendent will be able to start by July 1, the beginning of the new fiscal year.
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