State Rep. Vernon Smith, a former Gary principal, wants the Gary School Board to speed up its superintendent search.
Smith spoke at a school board meeting last week and at a state Distressed Unit Appeal Board meeting, urging the school board to move quicker to allow the new superintendent time to acclimate to the district before next year’s school term.
“I would have thought we would have had one now,” Smith said at the March 14 DUAB meeting.
Smith said he’s worried academics will suffer if the next leader needs more time to become familiar with the district.
He said the Northwest Indiana legislative delegation wanted the new leader to be in place by spring at the latest. A timeline for the superintendent, however, wasn’t included in the law that revamped the district, giving it an appointed school board.
The new board held its first meeting in September and formed a committee to screen and hire a search team. It hired a Chicago-based firm in December and recruiting began in January. The applicant period recently closed with about 38 candidates.
The board is holding a 5:30 p.m. meeting March 20 for interview training as it sifts through the candidates.
In October, school board chairman Michael Suggs said the board likely wouldn’t be able to make an offer to a candidate until March.
Responding to Smith’s recent comments, Suggs said Tuesday he understands the value of giving the next superintendent as much time as possible to learn about the community and school district.
“Unfortunately, the process took time; however, I’m confident that we did a good job picking the search firm and engaging stakeholders in the process,” he said.
“I have been involved with several high-level searches throughout my career, all of them have taken 10 months to a year to complete. It’s a process that you don’t want to rush,” he said.
Gary has been managed by a private firm hired by the state in 2017 after its finances collapsed and the state took it over. It’s set to leave state control in July, if the DUAB approves its exit. At that time, the school board would gain full governing power.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.