Musts take shape in school boss search

The Superintendent Search committee will be taking additional feedback from the community at Wednesday night’s School Committee meeting, but the public said they know what they are looking for from their new leader.

Members of the community have identified a number of priorities that are vital to the hiring of a new school chief including experience as a superintendent in an urban district, commitment to work with families and the community, and advocate for equity and adequate funding.

“We need someone who will champion for public education and demonstrate their commitment to closing the achievement gap in an urban district,” said QUEST member Harneen Chernow.

She said the candidate pool former superintendent Tommy Chang was a part of didn’t meet what the community wanted.

“The last time there was a feeling that the final candidates didn’t reflect the criteria of the district,” Chernow said. “We wanted someone who had experience running a district and so there was a feeling that we didn’t end up with as strong of a candidate.”

Chernow said the same thing happened with interim superintendent Laura Perille’s appointment, pointing out as she didn’t come from an education background. But, the community is hoping they will be heard this time around.

“There are a lot of voices at the table because this is a major appointment,” Chernow said. “There are a lot of voices on the kind of leader and we want to make sure the students, families and community are key in choosing the next person appointed.”

The School Committee addressed the concerns from the community in last week’s meeting, mirroring the public’s requirements.

In addition to strong leadership, a willingness to collaborate and someone who understands how the school system works, they agreed that one of the most important characteristics of the new superintendent was that they need to have the ability to deal with a district as complex as Boston. With BuildBPS, the size of the district and its diversity, committee members are concerned about having someone who can balance it all.

“This looks like a job description for a peaceful district,” said committee member Dr. Miren Uriarte at the meeting last week. “But we are in a lot of transition right now.”

“We don’t need someone who is still learning, but we need someone who knows what they are doing,” said Uriarte. “We need someone who gets it the moment they walk through the door.”

While the Search Committee has to have their finalized job description presented by Dec. 5, they will still be hosting community meetings throughout December to seek input. The School Committee will also be collecting additional feedback from the community at their meeting on Nov. 28.