The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Search for CEO may soon be underway
The Lorain Academic Distress Commission soon may begin the search for the next CEO of Lorain City Schools.
On March 3, the Academic Distress Commission and Lorain City Schools Board of Education held a joint meeting
to discuss the search for the next chief executive officer. Interim CEO Greg Ring has been overseeing daily operations since Jan. 3, succeeding CEO David Hardy Jr.
The ADC has a pending proposal from a search firm. Academic Distress Commission members
Randall Sampson, Patricia O’Brien, Diane Xander and Steve Cawthon met for more than an hour in a closed-door executive session with Lorain Schools Board of Education members Mark Ballard, Bill Sturgill, Courtney Nazario and Timothy Williams, apparently to discuss the CEO search.
But the Academic Distress Commission took no formal action.
Sampson, the ADC chairman, said he expects another meeting this month to work on those details.
The Academic Distress Commission members also are excited to work with the school board and get the community involved in the CEO search, he said.
The school district leaders heard a presentation from consultant Steve Farnsworth, a former teacher, principal and superintendent who now works with Finding Leaders, a Sagamore Hills-based search firm.
Farnsworth and firm owner Paul Pendleton would advise the Academic Distress Commission in the coming weeks, based on that company’s proposal.
The search process would start this month, with publication of a written job description and Farnsworth and Pendleton reaching out to their networks of educators around Ohio.
The search would include stakeholder meetings with anyone the commission members choose to include, Farnsworth said. Administrators,
principals, teachers, classified staff, parents, residents, community groups, the mayor’s office or other groups could participate, he said.
Those meetings would last into April to create the list of qualifications and characteristics for the next CEO.
Farnsworth said he believed the board of education should be involved with those meetings.
It also is necessary to emphasize the contributors would offer their input about Lorain Schools, but they do not make the final decision about hiring a CEO.
That decision remains with the Academic Distress Commission, Farnsworth said.
A tentative application deadline would be May 15, with Finding Leaders screening to begin the week of May 18.
The company would develop a list of semifinalist CEO candidates and summary of the focus groups by May 29.
Then the Academic Distress Commission would have its first round of interviews the week of June 1 and further research the candidates the following week.
Starting June 15, the Academic Distress Commission members would observe two nights of group interviews with CEO finalists and the stakeholders.
After those talks, the candidates would go on a tour of the district while the Academic Distress Commission members discuss the findings of the stakeholder, Farnsworth said.
A selection would happen June 26 with a community introduction on June 30. The next chief executive officer would begin duties on Aug. 1 starting with a written transition plan, Farnsworth said.
More community engagement will lead to more likely success for the candidate who becomes the next CEO Farnsworth said.
He noted Lorain Schools faces uncertainty due to possible legislative action about House Bill 70, the state law that created the state takeover process for struggling school districts.
One way to deal with that is to include a contract clause by which the CEO would become the next superintendent if the academic distress process ends for Lorain Schools, Farnsworth said.