BPS superintendent search committee chooses consulting firm
The Boston Public Schools superintendent search committee on Tuesday chose One-Fourth Consulting to help find the district’s next superintendent.
The firm was one of seven consulting firms that responded to the district’s request for proposals.
The price quoted in the proposals will not be released until the School Committee finishes evaluating them, the committee said.
One-Fourth Consulting of Austin, Texas, last year helped find superintendent candidates for the San Dieguito Union High School District in North Coastal San Diego County, Calif.
Based on feedback from four “listening sessions” and 464 survey responses, the search committee voted 7-0 to recommend the new superintendent’s job description, with the caveat that the consulting firm would help the committee “polish” it.
Among the qualifications, the job description said the superintendent should be someone who:
•Wants to be the leader of the nation’s oldest public school district and the first to close the opportunity and achievement gaps.
•Has demonstrated an authentic commitment to cultivating an antiracist organization and reviewing policies and reviewing policies and practices through an anti-racist lens.
•Is familiar with Boston and its history of desegregation.
•Preferably is someone who is multilingual.
•Has 10 or more years of related supervisory experience.
•Is “culturally proficient.”
•Must participate as a member of the mayor’s cabinet.
•Is committed to family engagement.
•Demonstrated a deep understanding of multilingual and English learners with disabilities.
•Has served as an educator in a pre-K-12 public school district.
The school committee plans to hire a new superintendent by June, when Brenda Cassellius is slated to step down after three years on the job.
Last month, Cassellius and Mayor Michelle Wu said the decision was mutual but offered no further explanation. The school committee has agreed to pay Cassellius $314,000 severance.
The search for a new superintendent comes at a time when the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is conducting a review of the district to follow up on one it did in 2019.
Mayor Michelle Wu and Councilor-at-Large Julia Mejia attended a DESE meeting last month at which they said they hope the audit will not lead to state control.
Commissioner Jeffrey Riley said the review would begin on March 28 to determine whether BPS has made any progress since the 2019 assessment found “major structural challenges” in Boston Public Schools.
Wu said she welcomes the review but said a receivership, under which the state essentially would take control of the district, would be “counterproductive” in light of the transition BPS will make to a new superintendent and leadership team as of July 1.