Quick Take
Live Oak School District hopes to have a new superintendent on the job by July 1 – less than three months, and just one day after current superintendent Daisy Morales leaves office. Some parents and teachers say the process is being rushed.
Live Oak School District hopes to have a new superintendent on the job in less than three months – just one day after current Superintendent Daisy Morales leaves office.
That quick turnaround time has alarmed some parents and teachers, who say the district’s governing board should take its time to thoroughly vet candidates to ensure they can bring stability to a district still reeling from a tumultuous budget crisis. Several have said they would have preferred the board hire an interim superintendent instead to be able to take time to find the right candidate.
Morales resigned last month as the district was in the midst of issuing layoff notices due to its budget problems. Her last day is June 30.
Earlier this month, board members approved a timeline for its superintendent search that included a May 6 deadline for applications, May 19 and 20 for interview panels, the approval of a contract at the June 12 board meeting and a July 1 start date. The governing board hired Leadership Associates, an executive search firm, to help it find the next superintendent.
Teachers union co-president Lauren Pomrantz said she’s hopeful the board can find a good candidate in that time frame, but that she has concerns about the district moving so fast. Pomrantz said union membership expected to start this process in the fall instead of rushing it at the end of the school year – a busy time for teachers, parents and staff.
“It was a very quick, tight timeline, because the timeline for launching the search was approved just last week,” she said. “And so there’s been a lot of rapid-fire scheduling of meetings, and it has felt very rushed, and a little bit unorganized. So our confidence in the firm is wavering a little bit.”
Pomrantz said the firm scheduled a meeting that was supposed to allow 30 minutes for teachers to give their input but it ended up lasting just 20 minutes. However, she added that the union’s executive team has another opportunity to talk with the firm Friday.
Brooke Bond, who has a child in Green Acres Elementary School and another ready to start kindergarten next year, said she thinks “it’s alarming” how quickly the board is progressing through the search. Bond said she feels a yearlong search is the best way to get community input and to select a new superintendent thoughtfully.
“I just don’t know how [the timeline] gives anybody any time for reflection,” she said.
Trustee Jeremy Ray, who was absent during the most recent meeting, when his fellow board members approved the timeline, told Lookout he doesn’t know why that timeline was picked but added that Leadership Associates would help find an interim superintendent if the board chooses that route instead.
Ray, who was board president when the previous two superintendents were hired, said the search firm did the background checks and the board put in a lot of effort to get community engagement. However, few people attended those public engagement meetings, something Ray said he thinks will be different this year.
“Given everything that has happened, obviously, we will probably get more input this time around,” he said. “And hopefully that is the case.”
Lookout reached out to board president Kristin Pfotenhauer and board member Paul Garcia to understand why they decided to go with this timeline, but did not receive a response.
Shoreline Middle School teacher Jeremy Powell said he’s not overly concerned about the timeline. He expects if the governing board doesn’t find the right candidate in this first go-around, it will expand the timeline and hire an interim superintendent while it conducts a second search.
Given the strained relationship between Morales and the teachers union and some administrative staff, Powell said he hopes the search firm will do its “due diligence” to make sure the next superintendent is a good fit.
“The only thing we need these people to do is follow up, call some former employers, call current employers,” he said. “Do a little detective work, see if this person has not only the leadership skills and professional experience, but the personality.”
The district has a webpage dedicated to the superintendent search. It has the timeline for the search, dates for meetings and a link for the online survey for community members to give their input.
The information provided by respondents will help to develop a profile of the desired qualities for the next superintendent, to generate questions for the superintendent interviews and to give input for the recruitment process.
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