Voices lacking at virtual sessions

SFPS board seeks input but had only 1 speaker during Tuesday forums

Santa Fe school board President Kate Noble didn’t know what to expect when she held her first virtual “listening session” with the public Tuesday regarding the district’s search for a new superintendent.

Was she excited, nervous or scared to talk with community members about what they wanted to see in a replacement for Superintendent Veronica García?

“How about, ‘All of the above?’ ” Noble said with a laugh prior to the session. “If people show up, that would be great.”

They didn’t show up for a noon session, the first of four Noble and fellow board member Carmen Gonzales scheduled to gather public input on candidates to fill the district’s top job as the board prepares to interview its six finalists Saturday.

A Tuesday evening meeting drew two people, but only one participated.

Gabriela Ibanez Guzman, a lawyer and mother of a student at Gonzales Community School, said a candidate with teaching and administrative experience was high on her list of priorities.

Gonzales assured her that was a requirement for the position.

Additional listening sessions are scheduled Wednesday evening and Friday morning.

The district also got involved in the community engagement effort, starting a “Your Voice Matters” campaign last week. A post on the district’s website and emails sent to community members provide a link to email addresses of all five board members and a request to provide input on the superintendent search by noon Friday.

So far, each board member has received between 15 and 20 emails, said García, who is assisting the district with the hiring process. She expects more will come as the week progresses.

People in Santa Fe are not shy about expressing themselves,

García added.

Hot-button issues on school board meeting agendas can draw comments from scores of impassioned people, either in person or in writing, she said.

The board eschewed public forums and meet-and-greets with candidates in its search for a superintendent — methods of community engagement board members have used in the past.

That struck a nerve with members of the local nonprofit Interfaith Coalition for Public Education, which released a joint statement in late March expressing concern about the speed of the search and lack of public input.

García said, however, there is a risk of public forums turning into political debates about which candidates are better than others.

“There might be a cadre of people that will give input [on a candidate] favorably,” García said. “And if somebody wants someone else, they might have a cadre of people that will give negative input.

“The board is put in a weird spot where, let’s say there’s three candidates and you have two-thirds of the people mad at them. If you didn’t pick who they wanted, then that segment feels like you didn’t listen to them,” she said.

Joe Guillen, executive director of the New Mexico School Boards Association, said board members face a delicate balancing act when trying to hire the right person to lead their district. On one hand, he said, board members want the public’s input to drive the search process, but they also want to conduct a search expeditiously.

“We want to make sure we have the best candidates available to the district, and also a process that brings the good candidates to the top of the pool,” Guillen said. “But you’re balancing that with getting the public input and the time it takes to get community input.”

Gonzales and Noble said they have received thoughtful, constructive correspondence with some community members about what qualities they want in a superintendent, but others simply want to promote — or disparage — a candidate.

“It’s going to be difficult to please everybody, I am sure,” Gonzales said, “but we want to get the best person we can find.”

Noble said transparency is important to her.

“I want to keep an open mind because everybody has different perspectives on individuals,” she said.

“I am really excited by the thoughtful input I am receiving on the qualities people want in a superintendent — and we are getting those emails.”