REA/REAA letter to School Board regarding Interim Superintendent

On behalf of the Racine Education Association and the Racine Educational Assistants Association, we wish to comment on the Board’s process for searching for an interim superintendent.  We respectfully request that the Board carefully develop selection criteria before reviewing lists of job candidate names.  It is our strong belief that the stability of the school district and continued progress on the four quality objectives requires that any individual seriously considered for the interim superintendent post should show evidence of a solid record of accomplishments.  These accomplishments should indicate that the person is the following:

•  Collaborative and a team player;
• Open to thoughts and ideas that all stakeholders bring to administration;
• Knowledgeable of best practices in the area of public school finance and budget activities;
• Knowledgeable of progressive school transformation ideas and willing to work with the Panasonic Foundation;
• Capable of exercising independent professional judgment free from the influence of personal relationships with current district personnel.

It is important to note one additional criterion:  Candidates for the interim superintendent post should not be persons who show evidence of a rigid top-down or command and control management style.

Considerable progress has been made by educational assistants, teachers, and other stakeholders in the last several years toward profound change in the work culture of the school district.  Accomplishments include innovations such as a new payday meeting process, a District Wide School Improvement Council, a potential non-conformance reporting system, and a definition of respect.  If there is to be progress toward the Board’s end goal of educating all students to succeed, it is crucial that good decisions on interim superintendent selection criteria be made first.  Following adoption of selection criteria, it would be appropriate to decide on a preferred candidate for the position.   Please feel free to contact us with any comments or questions.

Written by Pete Knotek, REA Acting President and Lily Ramos, REAA President