Schools

Belmont A 'Destination' As School Superintendent Search Starts

Few similar-sized communities in the market and plenty of candidates looking to work in a "desirable" district gives Belmont an upper hand in upcoming process.

Belmont School Committee's search for a new superintendent is all about supply and demand. 

There is a sizable number of highly-qualified candidates who are looking to come to Belmont which is considered a desirable "destination" district.

And since Belmont is one of only a couple of similar communities seeking a leader of its public education program this year, it appears the town will have the pick of a good crop of administrators.

That was the opinion of Glenn Koocher, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, as the Belmont School Committee held its first meeting last week in its effort to replace Dr. Thomas Kingston who has been the district's interim superintendent since June 2011.

Kingston – who agreed to extend his tenure as superintendent two separate times – has announced that he will step down from his position on June 30, 2014.

"There is interest [among high-profile candidates] in Belmont," said Koocher who has his ear to the ground as the MASC advise and assist committees on their searches.

"Everyone around here know about the district;" that it has good schools, finances supporting the district and has great community support, he told the School Committee at the School Administration Building. 

But hiring a top-notch educator to lead the district won't come cheap, said School Committee Chair Laurie Graham; in salary and compensation, the final pay package will likely be north of $200,000 a year. Kingston's salary is $150,000. 

And there is a sizable number of highly desirable educators who for the past few years were reluctant to move for their current position due to the five years of economic downturn and the weak recovery. There was also questions concerning the employment prospects of spouses as they follow a new superintendent to the district. 

In addition, unlike last year when 10 similar high-performing suburban districts in Massachusetts were seeking educators from the same pool to lead their districts, Belmont will likely have the candidate field for themselves, said Koocher, who said he knows Lincoln-Sudbury Regional is seeking a superintendent (which will also be asked to become the school's principal as the district is only 9-12 grades.) while Dedham's superintendent has retired but it is not known if it will go through the process during this employment cycle.

If past experience continues, Koocher said Belmont can expect 1,400 "potential" candidates responding to the first notice of the opening. 

He advises the School Committee to start the process early so it will "pick off" the better educators seeking to advance their careers. But he would not start the process until after Labor Day "when everyone starts paying attention" to promotional material. 

Koocher said he advises committees to keep the important Superintendent Search Committee on the smaller side – between 9 to 11 – as larger groups tend to take more time to come to consensus.

That screening committee should have a few faculty members, an administrator, two educators and residents and parents with each required to issue a statement of interest to be selected on the board. 

The MASC – which will help Belmont with the search – will present a pool of between 25 to 30 "respectable" serious candidates who "want to be here and are qualified" move the district forward, said Koocher. That group will be "whittled down" to a select dozen by the search committee and the district's human resources department, said Koocher.

Those candidates should be interviewed between 75 to 90 minutes; anything shorter "does not give the message of seriousness" that you want to give, he said.

Three finalist will be presented to the community and hopefully, a strong superintendent will be leading Belmont for years to come, said Koocher.


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