Superintendent

In the 2009-2010 school year, the Rapid City Area Schools Board of Education will be searching for a new superintendent to replace Dr. Peter Wharton after his retirement at the end of June, 2010. Check back here for details on the search process and community involvement.

Board to Interview Search Firms

As part of the process of recruiting and hiring a new superintendent, the Rapid City Area Schools Board of Education will interview consulting firms on November 10, 2009. The interviews are open to the public. For more information, see Kayla Gahagan’s article in the Rapid City Journal.

Search for a New Schools Superintendent Begins

The search for a new superintendent for the Rapid City Area Schools got underway this month. The Board of Education invited executive search firms to submit proposals to manage the recruitment and interview process that will lead to hiring a new leader for the District by next spring.

Hiring a superintendent is the most important decision a school board makes, according to the National School Boards Association. A search firm will serve as an outside, professional administrator of the search process. The firm will work with the Board to hold meetings to solicit community input, track applications and ensure that the process is not biased by insiders or compromised by breeches of confidentiality.

“No single decision is more critical than the hiring of a new superintendent for the school district.”                                                                                     Thomas Hutton,  National School Board Association

Proposals from search firms are due by the end of October, and the Board is expected to select a firm early in November. On behalf of the Board, the search firm will then develop a timeline for the process and a strategy for advertising the position. Before interviews take place, the Board anticipates that it will hold meetings with the public and various stakeholder groups to identify the attributes and qualities that the community is looking for in a new superintendent. A summary of this community input will be presented to the Board before the interview process begins.

After candidates submit their applications, the search firm will work with the Board to identify individuals the Board would like to interview. The interviews will take place early in 2010, and the Board hopes to make a final decision by April.

If you’re interested in reading what the National School Boards Association has to say about recruiting and hiring a new superintendent, read the special insert to their newsletter: NSBA supt search suggestions. For background on the District’s search for a superintendent in 1998 and comments on Dr. Peter Wharton’s tenure in Rapid City, see Kayla Gahagan’s June 26, 2009 article in the Rapid City Journal.