Should Your District Include a Public Interview Process When Hiring a New Superintendent?

In some instances, the board chooses to take it one step further, gathering feedback from the community in real time during the interview process, as South Sioux City Schools did in their recent search.

The Board narrowed the search to four finalists, who each had an opportunity to participate in the school community for a day, touring the district, and meeting with interest holders who had opportunities to question the candidates on issues of importance. Likewise, the candidates were able to assess the strengths and challenges of the district in order to reflect on how they might advance the educational community under their leadership.

The director of communications publicized the interview details to all parties with interest in the school community using all available outlets. In South Sioux City, candidates were assigned an interview time slot. Community participants were invited to share their thoughts on the assets a candidate could offer the district, along with questions and concerns they might have about a candidate. These responses were collected via a google form accessible to all audience members. After the interview, the anonymous public responses were sent directly to the school board for their consideration as they debriefed and narrowed the search to a final selection. It is important to note that while the board values community input, the decision on who to hire is ultimately the responsibility of the board.

While an open interview process can have some advantages, there are also disadvantages, namely the number of candidates the District can attract.  Chief Associate, Hank Gmitro writes about these pros and cons to open interviewing in his article: Community Transparency and Candidates Confidentiality.