Search firm’s Covid rules a deal-breaker for board

The organization picked to lead the Port Washington-Saukville School District’s   search for its next superintendent will not meet with focus groups in person, and that was a deal-breaker for the School Board.

The board, which last week voted unanimously to hire the Wisconsin Association of School Boards if it modified its Covid-19 protocols, on Monday voted instead to hire  an Illinois firm after the nonprofit, Madison-based WASB said it would not deviate from Dane County pandemic guidelines that currently prevent it from conducting key parts of the superintendent search in person.

“The fact (WASB) is following the guidelines of Dane County when they’re working for us in Ozaukee County is troubling,” board member Brian Stevens said before the board voted unanimously to hire School Exec Connect of Oak Park, Ill., to conduct the search.

Board members said it is so important that focus groups be facilitated by in-person moderators that they are willing to pay School Exec Connect, which has committed to providing all of its services in person if the board wants, considerably more than WASB would have charged.

The WASB search would have cost the district $10,900. The School Exec Connect will cost it $16,800, which includes travel expenses.

“So are in-person (services) worth six grand?” board member Matthew Uselding, who later made the motion to hire School Exec Connect, asked.

The answer from the board was yes, given the importance of finding the right person to succeed Michael Weber, who is retiring on June 30 after 21 years at the helm of the district.

“This is the most important thing we do as a board,” board member Brian McCutcheon said. 

The board had chosen WASB because it specializes in Wisconsin superintendent searches, offers a wide range of services and charges for only those services a district chooses to use. In addition, WASB conducted the search that resulted in the hiring of Weber in 2000.

But key to the district’s search is one of the first steps in the process — assembling groups of district residents to discuss the most important qualities the board should look for in the district’s next superintendent. The feedback from those focus groups will shape the profile the board uses throughout the rest of the process.

Although focus group members could be offered the option of participating online, the discussion should be primarily in person, board members said. Even a scenario in which participants gather in the Port Washington High School Performing Arts Center and the district’s consultants are online isn’t ideal, they said, because moderators could miss nuances of the conversations and technical glitches could disrupt the process.

“You tend to get more conversation going, more feedback when you’re in person,” board member Doug Miller said. 

Stevens said, “For the listening sessions, I think it’s important for them (consultants) to be here.”

Provided the board approves a contract with School Exec Connect when it meets next week, the search process will only be delayed by a week and, according to the company’s proposed timeline, the board still has a realistic chance of hiring a new superintendent well in advance of Weber’s retirement.

Several board members have said, however, that their priority is finding the right person for the job, and if that takes longer than expected, the search process should be extended.

Although not considered ideal, the board has the option of naming an interim superintendent while it continues the search as it did in 1999 before Weber was hired.