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Board of education hires firm to help with superintendent hire

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Photo by Jessa Pease.

Photo by Jessa Pease.

Photo by Jessa Pease.

The Hoover Board of Education voted to employ the Alabama Association of School Board (AASB) in its current superintendent search at the Jan. 16 called board meeting.

AASB was a major contender for the position after Susan Salter, director of board development with AASB, made a presentation at the board of education's regular Jan. 12 meeting. The organization originally quoted Hoover City Schools a rate of $21,200 including a base fee, advertising costs and a New South survey component. The contract signed on Friday reduced that rate by $1,500 for a total of $19,700.

“I know AASB was very helpful, [board member] Earl [Cooper] has said time and time again, as he was…trying to locate an interim superintendent for Hoover City Schools,” board president Donna Frazier said at the Jan. 12 meeting. “They were extremely helpful with his process. AASB is our governing body, so to speak. I’ve been on this board for 10 years. I have attended a lot of conferences and have always been very impressed with Alabama Association of School Boards.”

The board’s attorney, Donald Sweeney, also contacted six other consulting firms about the job. Still, the board unanimously chose AASB. Each of the board members explained that past experiences with AASB have impressed them. AASB not only offered the lowest cost to the board, but it also showed an understanding of the dynamics of the region and state.

In the past 18 months, AASB has conducted 19 superitendent searches across the state including Athens, Auburn, Gardendale, Lee County and Oneonta. It has already been hired to do two other superintendent searches.

AASB will handle all aspects of advertising the position, recruiting candidates and gathering community input through surveys. It will accept all the applications through an online portal, screen those applicants, verify their transcripts and ensure the candidate would be a good, long-term fit for the role of superintendent.

The search for five superintendent candidates will start next week. Salter gave the board a very “ambitious” timeline of Jan. 12, which would kick-off with an online survey to gain feedback from the community and stakeholders. The schedule has the board naming a permanent superintendent by the end of May, which would give the named superintendent one-month of overlap to work with the current interim superintendent Dr. Jim Reese. Reese’s term will expire the end of June.

“The primary thing that we bring to the table is that we handle the leg work for you,” Salter said. “We handle the application process, the screening process and the recruiting process so that the board is free to focus on the things that are clearly critical — choosing the qualifications of your next leader.”

The board of education will still make the final decision concerning the permanent superintendent. The role of the research firm would solely be to bring the board a number of candidates that fit the needs of the board.

Also at the meeting, the Board of Education decided to change its regular meeting nights from February to June. The board usually meets on the first Monday of the month, but will now meet on the second Monday of those months. The dates were moved due to a conflict with the Hoover City Council meetings, and Frazier said she would like the community to have the opportunity to attend both.

The new meeting dates are:

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