Board to look outside district for superintendent

A week after meeting in closed session to consider an internal candidate, the Port Washington-Saukville School Board on Monday decided to hire a consultant to conduct an external search for the district’s next superintendent.

The decision came after Supt. Michael Weber announced that Duane Woelfel, the district’s director of special services, withdrew his name from consideration for the job. Woelfel had offered to serve as superintendant for two or three years and is not interested in being the district’s top administrator for an extended period of time, Weber said. 

“Duane appreciates the board’s consideration, but he believes the district should look for a long-term superintendant,” Weber said. “He’s stepping aside and is willing to help with the process in any way he can.”

The clock is now ticking for the School Board, which has just more than four months to find a replacement for a superintendent who has been on the job for 21 years.

“If we can get going now, we’ll be OK,” Weber said. “But if we wait, the talent pool will be very shallow.”

Last week, the board accepted the June 30 retirement of Weber, who was hired in 2000.

Based on information from the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, which conducted the superintendent search that brought Weber to the district, the hiring process can take anywhere from three months to a year or more depending on the complexity of the process, the amount of public involvement and the pool of candidates, School Board President Brenda Fritsch said. 

The district spent the better part of a year searching for a superintendent before selecting Weber and hired an interim head administrator, Al Rothenthal, to bridge the gap between Jim Badertscher, who resigned in 1999, and Weber.

The first step is hiring a consultant, which Weber said he hopes the board will do when it meets next week. The board directed administrators to seek proposals from WASB as well as private firms that specialize in recruiting school superintendents.

Then the board must develop a superintendant profile, a process that may involve staff members, students and district residents.

WASB has advised the district to expect between 15 and 30 applicants but not to count on candidates with nearly as much experience as Weber, Fritsch said. The most experienced candidates are likely to have been superintendent for four or five years, she said.

Applicants will likely be narrowed to the top six candidates who will be interviewed by a committee that could include everyone from school officials, staff members and students to senior citizens and business leaders, officials said. 

The key, Weber said, is finding a superintendent who matches the district’s profile and is “a good fit” for the district and the community.

“The main thing that tipped the scales for me was the School Board at the time and the community,” Weber said. 

If the School Board keeps the process moving and finds the right candidate among its first round of applicants, it’s likely the district will be able to have a new superintendant on staff by July 1, he said.

Working in the district’s favor, Weber added, is its reputation.

“There are school districts that are go-to places and there are districts that are not go-to places,” he said. “I’m pleased to say that this is a go-to place.”

Although the goal is to have a new superintendent in place by July 1, Sara McCutcheon, one of three current board members who hired Weber, warned against rushing the process.

“We should take whatever time is needed and not be afraid to restart the process if needed,” she said. 

If the district doesn’t hire a superintendant by July 1, it will likely need a temporary leader. One option is to hire an interim superintendent from outside the district, typically a retired administrator who would work part time, Weber said.

Another is to divide the superintendent’s duties among the district’s other three top administrators, something Weber said he would recommend the board not do. 

“They already have full-time jobs,” he said. 

Or the board could promote one of the district’s administrators to superintendent on a temporary basis, although that leaves a vacancy elsewhere in the district. 

“I think we’ll be fine,” Weber said. “The board has a good jump on this and the administrators will help in any way we can.”