Story by Owen Hou
Staff Writer
Photo by Madeline Madrigal
Staff Photographer
The current SPUSD superintendent, Dr. Geoff Yantz, announced his retirement from the position on Saturday, Jan. 18, and the school board has been searching for a suitable replacement since. The board is working with Education Support Services (ESS), a group that offers consulting services to school and community college districts to support their needs. ESS will aid in planning, organizing, and finalizing their search for the new superintendent.
The board welcomed two ESS consultants, Steven Keller and Gary Rutherford, to begin the meeting. The two shared information about past experiences, additionally outlining the meeting’s goals, which included focusing the search for a superintendent and adjusting it to the district’s needs.
Their discussion then shifted to the topic of confidentiality for candidates and the importance of the board respecting the privacy of applicants.
“If I’m [the] superintendent [of] a district [and] thinking of applying for South Pasadena, I [would have] to tell the entire world in my community. [If] [I don’t] get the job, it’s a very difficult following,” Rutherford said. “Respecting the process and the candidates that come in is very important to [both the school board] and to [ESS].”
ESS consultants spoke of the current timeline of the project and other elements that would be needed in the near future. They began with an overview of the final steps of preparation and segued into the timeline’s activation phase, or when the first postings of the job would be released.
Another important component was creating a leadership profile, a list of qualifications and qualities both the board and community want in their superintendent. As a result, administrators can either be found or drawn to the job based on their past experience and characteristics.
From there, the board shifted toward the topics of recruitment and selection criteria. The board discussed ideas such as candidates being required to have three to five years of cabinet experience, but also spoke of how potential candidates could be lost to the harsh selection system.
Interview times and details were discussed after the selection process had been refined, along with the availability of the board members.
As the meeting came to a close, ESS consultants and board members finalized and overviewed the ideas that had been discussed so they would have a clear timeline moving forward.
The board will meet next on Tuesday, Mar. 11, for the monthly board meeting.