OKC board meets with superintendent hopefuls

Let the interviews begin.

Oklahoma City School Board members met with an undisclosed number of finalists for superintendent Wednesday night on the second floor of the Skirvin Hilton Hotel.

“It’s a confidential process so we can get the highest quality candidates possible,” said Shawn Hime, executive director of the Oklahoma State School Boards Association.

Oklahoma City Public Schools hired the association in February to assist the panel with the selection and hiring process after the resignation of Aurora Lora.

“If you have very successful people in successful positions, interviews are a two-way street,” Hime said, “and they want to have that conversation before they have the conversation with the community they’re in that they may be coming here because they may not be interested either.”

Hime, who declined to name the number of hopefuls, said the process could take weeks to complete.

“We just work for the board; it’s their decision,” he said. “They’re just now starting the process, so it’s going to be a multistep process before the board makes that decision. We’re just the facilitators.”

Board members, too, were tight-lipped before the start of Wednesday’s special meeting.

“We’re striving to do what’s best for Oklahoma kids,” said Paula Lewis, board chairwoman. “We’re all here because we want to show the good things that Oklahoma City does for kids, and we want a leader who buys into that vision.”

Lewis said the board will continue interviews Thursday night.

Some panel members have said they would like to have a permanent replacement for Lora in four to six weeks. Rebecca Kaye, Lora’s chief of staff, is serving as acting superintendent.

Lora, who resigned Jan. 30, was the district’s 11th superintendent since 2000 and the sixth since 2003 who did not last two years. The board hired Lora, an assistant superintendent in charge of curriculum, without interviewing another person.

“Whoever gets hired is going to be walking into very tough decisions, whether it’s the long-term facilities plan, finance and budgeting, or creating a working relationship with the board,” member Rebecca Budd said.

“The next superintendent needs to be able to work on a vision with the board and how we implement it. How do we empower our principals, how do we rebuild relationships with teachers and improve retention and how do we build trust with the community at large?”

Board member Mark Mann told The Oklahoman on Wednesday he’s “more concerned with finding the right candidate than a timeline.”

“I will say I think we’ve got a really good set of candidates we’re going to interview,” he said. “I think there’s going to be a mix of both in-state and out-of-state candidates.”