With Superintendent Hall’s contract up in 2023, what would you look for in the next Superintendent?
Out-of-Township (Vote for 1)
Justin Lamb: I would first look into renewing Dr Hall’s contract if she is interested. If not, I would look for someone who is a natural leader, compassionate, and works well with others.
Patrick MacKay: To appoint a superintendent is one of the most important responsibilities of any school board. In terms of a superintendent for the Mahomet-Seymour school district I would look for the following qualities and characteristics:
*Servant leader, effective communicator, quiet listener, strategic thinker, empathetic manager, dutiful organizer, and readily available to his or her district for dialog, debate, discussion.
In-Township (Vote for 2)
Rebecca Richardson: “School boards are looking for God – on a good day.” New York Times
Short of this impossible scenario, there are important characteristics, skills and experiences that provide a greater likelihood for success in leading the district to achieve the policies and goals set by the board of education from community and teacher/staff input:
- Passionate determination to put the needs of all students first
- Has the capacity to be visionary and provide examples
- Demonstrate considerable experience in instructional leadership
- Takes responsibility for consistent and thorough communication with all board members
- Can manage multiple priorities and remain steady under pressure
- A very important aspect of leading is knowing personal gaps and filling them
- Values honesty, transparency and openness, and believes all board members
Sunny McMurry: It is my understanding that we would be allowed to offer Dr. Hall a contract extension if she would be interested in continued leadership of our district. That would be my first choice, considering that her respect for the educators who work in our district as well as her willingness and ability to delegate tasks to the experts is crucial in creating a successful school district.
If Dr. Hall elects to follow a different path, I would like to see us find a leader who has strong abilities in using data to drive instruction, delegates tasks appropriately to the experts, and communicates well with the board, the district and the community. I would also appreciate hiring someone with experience working with a district similar in size and academic offerings as ours. It would be an added bonus to find a superintendent who has worked with building projects, as I am hoping we will finally begin work on the Junior High.
Laura Lang: The best superintendents embrace their role in working with the board to set vision and priorities for the district. This is a crucial role for the district, which requires the following characteristics and much more: extensive experience, active listener, skilled negotiator, handles complaints with sensitivity, transparent but discreet communicator, and committed to the “student-first” philosophy. Books and articles have been written on this crucial topic, but I find the most important characteristic to be someone who is both confident and welcoming to critique.
Max McComb: I have been involved in hiring our last two Superintendents, Rick Johnston and Dr. Lindsey Hall. Each time, we looked for a strong leader. We are a high achieving district and a community with high expectations. It takes a strong leader to be successful in this environment. Every Superintendent is different and their skill set is slightly different. This is true of our last two Superintendents. They were not the same. However each of them had the skill set we needed for the time they have been here. Each of them was highly respected around the state and by their peers. Each of them have been tapped to serve on state-wide committees and boards. Each were highly sought after by other school districts. Most importantly, each of them have been tremendous leaders for Mahomet-Seymour Schools. If Mahomet-Seymour Schools are going to continue to excel, we need a leader capable of leading us to excel.
