School board mulls ideal superintendent

The ideal new Wrangell School System superintendent could come from anywhere in the United States.

He or she should be familiar with high technology schools. The new superintendent should be able to operate a Title I program, familiar with community involvement, high test scores. This person should be able to deal with a situation with high turnover, controversy, staff development, training, small schools, fishing communities, while also being a good communicator school board members told Norm Wooten, Director of School Improvement and Governmental Relations with the Association of Alaska of School Boards in a Thursday teleconference.

“Could you find us someone with ten kids?” joked board member Rinda Howell, referring to declining enrollment at the schools.

“I think they need to have good people skills,” said board member Krissy Smith. “They need to be able to interact and react.”

“We want a tough person,” Smith added.

“I don’t know what you’d call it, but we need someone who can bring back some school spirit,” Howell added.

Wooten summarized.

“You want a morale builder,” he said. “To use a tried expression, you don’t want a dead fish in there.”

“I promise I won’t put that in your job announcement,” he added.

The teleconference was the first step in the district’s search for a new superintendent. It was a brainstorming session to list characteristics for an ideal school leader, which Wooten planned to turn into an advertisement to be posted this week.

“You have a robust technology program in the schools, you have a high level of community involvement,” Wooten said, listing his translation of the school board’s suggestions. “Your school offers college and vocational courses. You have a full range of extracurricular activities both academic and extracurricular. You have a high graduation rate. You have highly qualified teachers. You have a non-transient student body. You have a low people-to-teacher ratio in your classes.”

The advertisement sets an annual salary range between $95,000 and $110,000, board members said. Budget figures currently list the annual superintendent salary in the superintendent contract as $57,534. The figure is not the total annual salary of present superintendent Rich Rhodes, who also receives money for his role as principal of the elementary school and grants administrator. School system business manager Pam Roope put that figure at $121,000.

The actual amount school officials will pay a new superintendent is subject to negotiations, board members said.

“I think that’s a pretty good range,” said board president Susan Eagle. “We’ve definitely got some things to offer in our community.”

Board members also discussed possible lengths of the superintendent’s contract. Board members hesitated to advertise a contract length greater than one year, in case a newcomer wasn’t a good fit for the position. Alaska law limits the length of superintendent contracts to three years, and one-year contracts typically don’t attract many applicants, Wooten said.

Board members have “three ways that you can move a superintendent along, if they don’t fit,” he said. “One, they run out their contract. They work ‘til the end of their contract and then they’re done. The second is, you can terminate for cause. In this state, it’s very difficult to terminate for cause. It’s just hard. Or you can terminate for convenience, and that generally costs you three to six months of pay, but that’s better than buying out a two-year contract.”

“I think two years would be a good compromise for you,” Wooten added.

A typical contract year for superintendents consists of 260 working days, though that number can vary depending on demands. Superintendents receive three weeks vacation.

According to a timeline presented Thursday, the position will be advertised until March 10, with onsite interviews conducted in late March or early April, and a projected start date of July 1.

Wooten’s introductory remarks summed it up best.

“You know this, but I’m going to say it anyway,” he said. “This thing about selecting a new superintendent is probably the most important thing you will do as a school board member. Don’t ever minimize the work that you’re doing now.”