Avoid another failed search by keeping public clued in

As the Columbus Board of Education embarks again on a search for a new superintendent, leaders aren’t making the same promise of absolute transparency that they made early in the year. That promise proved hollow, as board members proceeded to hide the names of some under consideration and held secret meetings to winnow candidates.

With a new search underway, district officials are saying up front that not even board members, let alone the public, will know who all has applied for the position because information only on those the consultant recommends for advancement will be turned over to the board and made public.

This preemptive admission doesn’t change the fact that, under Ohio’s publicrecords law, employment applications for public positions are public.

We expect the school board to respect the public’s right to be informed and conduct the search in the open.

Too much public trust already has been squandered via the earlier search, which had to be aborted after Ohio Auditor Dave Yost warned board members that the secret candidates and illegal closed-door decisions could leave them personally liable for any wages paid to a wrongly hired superintendent.

Why the school board insists on stiff-arming the public on this process is a mystery. It certainly won’t help avoid controversy; anyone unhappy with the eventual choice will be even more suspicious if that choice appears to have been made in the dark.

Better to clue in the public early. Consensus can be hard to reach, but it would give the next superintendent a far stronger position from which to work.

This is especially important given that interim Superintendent John Stanford is again among those being considered for the job. He came under criticism earlier for a lack of prior experience in education before being hired in 2010, when his friend, former Superintendent Gene Harris, ignored the recommendation of a taxpayer-funded national search and named him chief operating officer.

Who emerges in this search must be seen as clearly superior to the candidates he or she bests, and that can be done only if the public has the opportunity to compare qualifications of all who are receiving serious consideration by the board.

There is better transparency news out of Columbus Public Schools: Under a proposed policy change, the Board of Education finally would acknowledge that district employees have no right to order anyone off of the public sidewalks in front of buildings.

That should be obvious, but over the years, principals and others have attempted to order away reporters and others seeking to talk to students and parents. Last year, after a principal threatened to call security guards on people trying to hand out Spanish-language leaflets about immigration rights, an Ohio State University constitutional-law professor told the board the action likely was a violation of free-speech rights.

We’re glad the board is at least considering clarifying this to employees. Of course principals should not tolerate anyone who harasses or threatens students, distributes objectionable material or interferes with public safety.

But a reporter asking questions doesn’t do any of those things, and neither does an advocate handing out information.