Opinion: School Board Explains Goals

February 17, 2010

Now that the Board of Education for the Marietta City School district is five members strong, we are working diligently towards two main goals. We need to find a strong leader for our district, and concurrently, we need to review our financial situation. Both goals are monumental and will impact the future strength of our district. The next four months will be a busy time for the school board and we will need the help and input of all stakeholders in our district, including administration, staff, teachers, parents, students and taxpayers.

Some people in the community have brought forth ideas about our leadership, including sharing a superintendent with other districts in the county or having a principal act as superintendent. According to Ohio Revised Code, Chapter 3319, each school district must hire a superintendent who holds a valid license from the state board to act as executive officer of the district. In the past year we have combined our curriculum coordinator with a principal position and eliminated the position of business manager. A superintendent coming to our district will be encompassing a wide scope of tasks, in addition to serving as our leader.

To accomplish our goal of finding an excellent superintendent for our community, we have enlisted outside expertise. Marsick & Associates will be helping us conduct our superintendent search. Jack Marsick was instrumental in helping us find a treasurer, and we are confident that he will work diligently to help us find our next superintendent. The search has started, with applications accepted until March 31st. Near the end of March, Mr. Marsick will conduct focus groups with administration, staff and community members. The goal of these focus groups will be to identify competencies and characteristics of our next superintendent. In effect, these focus groups will develop our job definition and help us in finding the right person for Marietta. In addition, these focus groups will help develop the view of Marietta that will be presented to all candidates. They will define the “why” someone should consider becoming our superintendent. This is important, because to attract and retain the right person for the job, she or he needs to hear the good things about our community and to feel the support of the district.

After the primary definition is in place, candidates will be chosen to interview. Again, our pool of administration, teachers, staff and community members will assist us in this process by interviewing each viable candidate. We then hope to announce our choice at the end of May, in time to coincide with the retirement of Herb Young.

As our district’s CEO and educational leader, our next superintendent will be asked to help us refine our district’s vision. Over the past two years, the school board worked on a Journey Map that shows where we are as a district and where we hope to improve to become a world-class educational community. You can view this document on the district’s website at: http://mariettacityschools.k12.oh.us/assets/JourneyMap.pdf. In addition to the journey map, administrators and teachers work continuously on refining goals and vision through Professional Learning Communities. You can view the Foundation statements that were developed through this process on the website at: http://mariettacityschools.k12.oh.us/assets/FINALMisViF3AB5.pdf. It is our expectation that the next superintendent will further the important work that has started in Marietta.

According to the Department of Education, superintendents are:
• visionary leaders who set clear and specific goals for instruction, learning and achievement;
• collaborative leaders who maintain strong relationships with the board of education, treasurer and the district staff;
• instructional leaders who help their districts reach high levels of teaching and learning;
• focused leaders who continuously monitor and evaluate actions to achieve high level goals and
• connected leaders who create structures for school-community partnerships and serve as the point of contact to the district.

We school board members feel confident that finding and choosing the next superintendent is one of the most, if not THE most, important decision we will make while serving on this board. We know that our community will rally behind the district as we go through this process of finding the right person to lead Marietta’s schools.

Wendy Myers, Marietta City Schools Board of Education