Make the next superintendent search worthwhile
Tuesday’s special Columbus Board of Education meeting was messy, and that’s marvelous — not that the board is dysfunctionally split, but that some truth about it finally is apparent.
Forced to abandon a deeply flawed superintendent search by the state auditor’s warning that they could be legally and financially liable, the seven board members finally had the beginnings of honest public discussion that should have happened long ago.
The downside to this is that attracting the best candidates nationwide to a new search might be harder. Many won’t want to work for a school board that doesn’t get along and gets into legal trouble. To counter this, it is critical that the board demonstrate that it wants to interview the best candidates available, without favoring one from the start.
The best way for that to happen is for Interim Superintendent John Stanford, who was central to the controversy with the failed search, to not be in the running. His presence as a candidate will hamper any confidence that the search is fair and open.
Statements by board members during and after Tuesday’s meeting made clear that Stanford was the choice of board President Gary Baker, Vice President Michael Cole, Shawna Gibbs and Ramona Reyes. Cole said the board was about to hold a vote to hire him when the auditor’s warning, via letter, caused them to pull back.
Hiring Stanford was opposed by members Mary Jo Hudson, Dominic Paretti and Eric Brown. The three often have been at odds with the other four.
From our perspective, Stanford is a problematic choice: He was in a position of power while top district managers were engaged in a widespread conspiracy to falsify student data; he had scant experience and qualifications before being hired by former Superintendent Gene Harris, and his track record at the district since then isn’t impressive. And with no public discussion as the board whittled its choices, those who favored Stanford never demonstrated why.
Most important is that, as long as he is a candidate, no one will believe that the board majority is really considering anyone else.
Some of Tuesday’s frank talk included suggestions by the minority members that the majority pushed the search firm, Hazard Young Attea and Associates, to favor Stanford. Paretti said three candidates dropped out because they knew board members had Stanford in mind from the start.
A resolution adopted by the board on Tuesday says an independent counsel will advise the board during the new search and a mediator will act as a liaison with the search firm. Brown said that is important to prevent individual board members from giving any direct instructions to the search firm.
“This is about the other communication that took place inappropriately and making sure that doesn’t happen,” he said.
The board should use a different consultant for the new search; an email between Hazard Young and board members indicated that the firm kept searchrelated documents in its possession — preventing them from becoming public records — purposely to hide them from the public.
This entire episode has been an unnecessary embarrassment to the district. The Columbus City School District is Ohio’s largest, with all the challenges facing large urban districts but also a supportive community, dedicated teachers and students with limitless potential.
Board members owe it to the community and those students to conduct an aggressive search for the best possible new leader. Enjoy cartoons by Nate Beeler at Dispatch.com/opinion/beeler