Fulton County Schools announced a timeline for its superintendent search and posted a three-question online survey about what parents want in their next leader.
The district is conducting a national search for a superintendent after Jeff Rose resigned unexpectedly in November, nearly a year before his contract expired. Rose cited personal reasons for his departure, which came as the board discussed the renewal of his contract.
Some parents who supported Rose have blamed the school board for his early exit and have called on board members to involve parents in the search for his replacement. The board brought back a former superintendent, Cindy Loe, to serve as interim until a new superintendent is hired.
VIDEO: A look back at Jeff Rose
The board will cast a "wide net to seek a qualified and diverse set of candidates," according to a message from Board President Linda Bryant and Vice President Julia Bernath that was posted on the district's website.
The system plans to advertise the opening in national publications and send notices to school systems “of a certain size,” among other steps. Fulton enrolls nearly 95,000 students and is Georgia’s fourth-largest school district.
They said candidates will be interviewed this winter or spring and said board members would visit the cities where the candidates work in an effort to “seek candid opinions and assessments.”
Bryant previously said the district aims to have a superintendent hired by the start of next school year.
The district also posted a short online survey to gather input from parents, students, employees and community members about what they want in their next superintendent.
The survey will remain open until Jan. 23. It asks people to rank what skills and abilities are important in a superintendent. The choices range from the relationship between the superintendent and board to community engagement, recruiting top talent, teaching and learning, to business and executive skills.
The survey also asks people to rank the most important personal attributes of a superintendent. The choices of desired attributes include: Listening, public speaking and written communication skills; decision making; delegation; experience; leadership; organizational abilities and being a “visionary.”
Survey takers also have the option to list other skills or personal attributes.
The only other question asks survey takers to identify if they’re a parent, student, employee, community member or other interested person.
A report on the survey results will be made within the next month.
Board members also will gather feedback at community meetings, or people can send an email about the superintendent search to superintendentsearch@fultonschools.org.
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