Marblehead school board develops super search plan

MARBLEHEAD – School Committee members EuRim Chun and Kathy Leonardson have some questions they want their colleagues to answer about the town’s next superintendent of schools.Chun and Leonardson are in charge of organizing the search for a replacement for Superintendent Paul Dulac, who is scheduled to retire June 30.School Committee members voted 5-0 to go forward with a plan to choose a type of consultant firm this month, put out request for proposals in September and choose a search consultant firm in October.After focus group feedback in December and screening committee meetings in January, the School Committee will interview finalists in February and make a choice, giving the new hire the chance to work on the Fiscal 2012 school budget with Dulac. If the process is unsuccessful, the committee will have a chance to do a second round.Some of the questions the committee hopes to answer during the process are, “Do we want a candidate who is looking to come to our district for three to five years or a ‘lifer’?”; “Do we want someone regional and cognizant of the nuances of New England seaside communities or does this even matter?” and “How important is the person’s background in terms of longevity and experience in past districts?”They have already suggested three requirements for the next superintendent, which they would like the committee to discuss: commitment to Dulac’s educational vision, proven ability to manage operations and effective and creative financial management skills.They want those discussions to occur before the committee talks about strategy because they impact the decision the committee will make on a search. The committee will choose between a nation-wide or regional search and whether to hire a regional firm for the entire search or a “top gun” consultant to find a pool of applicants and then do the rest of the search locally to save money.