The search for a new Starkville School District superintendent begins Monday.
SSD officials Tuesday finalized the criteria for the job announcement and accompanying brochure, taking into consideration recommendations from stakeholder and community meetings conducted by the Mississippi School Boards Association, which is contracted by the SSD to conduct the search.
The board laid out eight applicant minimum qualifications, adopting six from the Oxford School District superintendent brochure and two from West Point.
One of the key qualifications in the new search that hasn”t been required in the past is having a doctoral degree. Despite concerns that making it a mandatory qualification could eliminate quality candidates — Hattiesburg and West Point school districts don”t require it — the board agreed it was in the best interest of the SSD.
“We”ve been burned as a school district by people who were working toward that and did not have it,” board member Pickett Wilson said. “We have so many administrators and classroom teachers with doctorates, so it should be desired criteria.”
Board member Eric Heiselt recommended at least six years of combined experience as a teacher and administrator, noting negative results with inexperienced administrators in other districts in which he worked.
“I want someone to know what it”s like to be in the trenches,” Heiselt said.
The SSD will forward its criteria to the MSBA, which will officially launch the search on Monday. The MSBA will accept applications, screen applicants for qualifications through an interview process, conduct background and reference checks and then present the information to the school board.
From there, the school board will select their top candidates, conduct the actual interviews and name the next superintendent. MSBA representative Harold Fisher said he will conduct the search and will make his reports to the board as a whole, not to individual members.
Beth Sewell, assistant superintendent, has served as acting superintendent since Judy Couey”s resignation in late April.
The position will be advertised with the American Association of School Administrators, National Alliance of Black School Educators and Education Week.
The window to apply closes on Oct. 31. The search is costing the district $9,500, plus expenses, the same fee the Columbus Municipal School District is paying the MSBA to search for its next superintendent.
The full list of criteria for Starkville schools superintendent:
- Brings successful, data-driven teaching and administrative experience in schools and communities with diverse populations.
- Is a demonstrated leader in curriculum issues that include special education, current vocational/technical trends and technology, all of which address the student population”s wide-ranging needs and goals.
- Understands the value of community involvement and demonstrates the ability to further develop and sustain the support of the community.
- Is practiced in budget preparation and sound fiscal management.
- Possesses knowledge of facility planning and funding.
- Has a valid Mississippi administrator license or is eligible to obtain license.
- Must have six combined years of experience as a public school teacher and/or administrator.
- Must maintain a high visibility in the schools and the community (must live in Starkville).
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