Tyler Kendall
Reporter
Since Superintendent of Schools David Abbey announced his retirement on Oct. 12, a Superintendent Search Committee has been set up to make a decision regarding his successor. This committee set out to hire a search firm to help conduct the hunt. The committee has urged the community to take an active role in the decision making, too. Several Focus groups and an online survey were made available to all public school faculty, residents and students.
“The committee’s goal in having these forums is to gather information so we can better gauge the community’s opinions,” said Ms. Hazel Hobbs, Chairman of the Board of Education and Superintendent Search Committee Co-Chair.
Though students identify the superintendent primarily as the one who decides weather-related school closings, sophomore Brian Huff, who attended the focus group, discovered that the superintendent responsibilities consist of a much wider ranger that impacts them on a personal level. “I would have found [the focus group]more interesting if I knew what the superintendent did,” Brian said. “I found it hard to voice my opinion because I wasn’t sure his role.”
Ms. Hobbs clarified that one of the superintendent’s primary responsibilities is dealing with the budget, two thirds of which it goes to the public schools.
“If the high school needs anything such as more computers, books, or even desks, if the roof has a leak, the superintendent works with various committees to find funding for these problems,” Ms. Hobbs said. “Everything you see in NCHS is part of the budget.”
Ms. Hobbs cautioned that the superintendent, “has to be responsible when ideas come forward, because the budget is not limitless,” and that is why the one chosen has to be able to display fiscal responsibility.
The curriculum is another area within the school system that the superintendent works closely with. “All that is taught from grade K through 12 is seen over by different people, and they all respond to him,” Ms. Hobbs said. “The superintendent also pays close attention to the school’s achievement records and looks to see what areas need more work and improvement.”
Along with the school’s budget and curriculum, the superintendent also works with countless other areas, including school policies and hiring of faculty.
“The new superintendent must be a good communicator, have excellent people skills, and they must have thorough knowledge of education at all levels; K-12. They also must have an understanding of what colleges and future employers of the students are expecting from them. A huge goal of the superintendent is to make sure that the students are leaving the school system fully prepared,” said Ms. Hobbs.
During the focus group, sophomore Jenna Egan was surprised by the superintendents connection to her education and felt that providing her input was important in the committee’s research. “It was a good chance to get my ideas heard,” she said.
With the forums now closed and the search underway, the committee hopes to have a new superintendent chosen by early April, because the superintendent must begin work July 1 and this will allow a transitional time.
