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Superintendent’s Blog - February 28, 2023

QUESTION: Will the current superintendent consider sticking around and applying to be the permanent superintendent?

ANSWER: Thank you for this question, but the simple answer is no. As I told the board at the time they appointed me, I have a prior commitment that starts in July and will not be able to continue after June. 

That having been said, I am thoroughly enjoying working with the great people of the district, students, employees, parents, and the many partners and local leaders who want the very best for our community. I will be sorry to leave. I continue to find the employees to be dedicated and hard-working, and the students are eager and full of promise. One of the most important tasks I have is to help the Board of Education hire my replacement. Working together, I believe we have put a solid plan in place to recruit and hire a superintendent who will lead this district into the future.

During their latest meeting, the Board discussed the next steps in hiring a new superintendent. The following information comes from the Board Meeting Report for February 21, 2023.

Superintendent Search

Richard Stowell, Executive Director of the Utah School Boards Association (USBA), spoke to the Board about the assistance USBA can offer the Board as they look to hire a new superintendent. USBA’s support comes at no cost to our Board. In the last two superintendent searches, the Board has hired a national search firm to help find a new superintendent. This time, the Board will use the services of USBA. USBA is currently engaged in finding superintendents for several other Utah districts and has years of experience in finding qualified candidates for superintendencies across the state. In recent years, USBA has assisted in the hiring of superintendents in the Granite, Jordan, Alpine, Tooele, and Davis School Districts.

Superintendent Bates handed out a printed copy of the results from the recent superintendent search survey and said the district will look to the survey results to create a brochure advertising the superintendent position and to help inform the Board about what the community believes are important superintendent qualities and priorities. The proposed timeline shows the brochure will be completed by the end of February or early March, and applications will be accepted throughout the month of March. In April, a committee, comprised of stakeholders appointed by Board members, will review and rank the applications from their perspectives and share their evaluations with the Board. The Board will review committee rankings as well as the applications themselves and will then invite candidates for interviews prior to making their ultimate decision. Interviews will also take place in April, with the goal of appointing a new superintendent in May. The new superintendent will officially begin by July 1, 2023.