Public Input Sought in Superintendent Search

Editor's Note: This is a letter to Sumner School District families from Craig Spencer, interim superintendent.

The Sumner School District Board of Directors has selected consultant Lee Goeke to assist them with the search for a new superintendent.

Goeke, principal/owner of Human Resources Solutions for Public Education in Vancouver, WA, will work with the Board to solicit community input, consult with educators and key stakeholders, develop a superintendent profile and to perform other duties related to the search.

The Board expects to start advertising for the superintendent position in the fall.

The first step in this process is to conduct an assessment of the values stakeholders feel are most important. This will help define the competencies that will be used to assess candidates for superintendent. Input from this assessment will help us to better define the culture and to shape the priorities of the District, and will guide hiring staff in administrative, teaching and support positions in the future.

Input collected from the values assessment will be used in several ways as the process of selecting and interviewing superintendent candidates proceeds. A hiring brochure describing the District and soliciting applicants for superintendent will include a statement about the kind of leader the Board is looking for and stating what the District stakeholders value most.

On behalf of the Sumner School Board, I invite all parents, community members, staff and students to participate in the process of finding the District's next superintendent. Look for an e-mail with an invitation to participate in the survey no later than June 14, 2012.

Thank you for your participation in this process.

Craig Spencer, Superintendent

More about the consultant
Mr. Goeke has extensive experience providing strategic human resource solutions for public schools and in staff and organizational development and collective bargaining. He previously served as associate superintendent for human resources and management for the Vancouver Public School System, and as European Director of human resources for the Department of the Army, where his responsibilities included human resource management support to over 12,000 teachers in the dependent schools system.