Update on the District Superintendent search
by Jim Dexter
Hello, I am Jim Dexter, the District Superintendent of Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex (WSWHE) BOCES. I wanted to give you an update on Questar III’s search for a new leader.
As you may know, Commissioner John King appointed me to assist the Questar III Board of Education with its search for a new District Superintendent. Ultimately, my job isn’t to select a person for your BOCES but rather to help guide processes to assist the Board in making its decision.
Some of you may recognize me as the former superintendent at Ichabod Crane CSD in Columbia County, where I also taught. My history with your BOCES actually goes back a number of years. One of my first jobs – during college – was at the Questar III Warehouse in Troy, behind the Rensselaer Educational Center.
Today, as one of the state’s 37 BOCES District Superintendents, I work closely with Questar III leaders on various regional and statewide initiatives. Your BOCES is well-respected across the state and should be an attractive position for candidates seeking a District Superintendent position.
While I am familiar with your BOCES and region, I will not profess to know everything about the cooperative, its values, initiatives or priorities. This is where the feedback of the organization’s staff, leadership and school superintendents is important.
Over the past several weeks, I have facilitated a number of input sessions with Questar III staff, leadership and local superintendents. These sessions were designed to give participants a voice in the creation of our materials and interview questions. Specifically, we asked participants to weigh in on three different questions to help build a leadership profile:
- What are the personal characteristics that are most desirable for the next District Superintendent for Questar III BOCES?
- What are the professional characteristics that are most desirable for the next District Superintendent for Questar III BOCES?
- What are the major challenges you believe the next District Superintendent for Questar III BOCES will need to address in the next three to five years?
I want to thank everyone who took the time to attend and provide feedback at one of the sessions. Ultimately, each organization is different and this is about finding the right fit as it is finding someone with the required qualifications.
Starting in early December we will begin advertising and promoting the position across the region, state and country. Working with Questar III’s Communications Department, we will also finalize recruitment materials including a search brochure.
The position will be open until January 30th. After that time I will work with the Board to screen candidates and develop the initial interview questions – based, in part, on feedback from the input sessions. During the week of February 9th the Board is scheduled to conduct its initial interviews.
Following the February break, we will gather two advisory committees in March to assist the Board and provide feedback on candidates. Information on this will be sent to you in early January.
Each Committee will present a report to the Board, followed by a question and answer segment. The Board will use this feedback to help narrow the field to finalists. Ultimately, the Board will conduct the final interviews and make a decision.
The Board’s choice for a District Superintendent will then be sent to the Commissioner. The appointment of District Superintendents are subject to his review and approval because the position serves as a dual role as the Commissioner’s regional representative and CEO of the BOCES.
The search timeline may change by a few days, depending on weather and availability, but right now we are working to have a new District Superintendent appointed by mid-April and begin employment on July 1, 2015.
That may seem like a long time from now, but there is a lot of work to do between now and then, from recruitment, screening, interviewing to working with the Board and committees and doing background/reference checks.
On behalf of the Questar III Board of Education, I want to thank you for the chance to update you on the search process. I am pleased to assist your BOCES with this important task and look forward to working with the Board and advisory committees. Happy holidays!
