A majority of Baldwin County residents want their next public school superintendent to be a trustworthy outsider with proven experience and a strong handle on financial challenges, according to results of a community survey presented to the school board this week.
Board President Shannon Cauley presented the findings from the questionnaire, which drew 3,113 responses, including nearly 1,000 from school system employees, during a special board meeting. The eight-question survey also invited written suggestions for the board as it searches for a replacement for outgoing Superintendent Robbie Owen.
Owen announced in May that he would not seek a second year in the role, opting instead to exercise a contract clause allowing him to return to his previous post as principal of Rockwell Elementary in Spanish Fort, a school he has led since it opened 18 years ago. His decision followed the defeat of several property tax measures earlier this year that would have funded system growth for decades to come.
The seven-member board is conducting the superintendent search on its own, without hiring an outside search firm, and board members also completed the same survey, sharing their own responses alongside the public results.
Asked to describe the most important quality for the next superintendent in a single word, more than 1,300 respondents wrote “trust,” with “leadership” and “experience” close behind. Among board members, “leadership” and “integrity” topped the list. An overwhelming majority of respondents identified funding as the biggest challenge facing the incoming leader, and nearly 88 percent said skills in budgeting, finance and facility planning would be essential.
Roughly 58 percent of respondents, about 1,800 people, said the next superintendent should not currently work within the Baldwin County school system, while 1,380 said the replacement should have at least four years of experience in a superintendent role. The board itself was evenly split on the experience question, with three members favoring one to three years of prior experience, three favoring four or more years, and one saying no prior experience was necessary. Public opinion was similarly divided between candidates with four-plus years of experience and those with none at all.
In a shift from earlier sentiment following Owen’s resignation announcement, board members unanimously agreed the next leader should come from outside the Baldwin County school system entirely.
The board laid out a tentative hiring timeline during the meeting. Once the job posting closes on July 8, the board attorney will distribute resumes for qualified applicants to each member. The board plans to narrow the field to five candidates for initial interviews, then to two or three finalists by August, potentially visiting the school systems where top candidates currently work. Public meet-and-greet sessions with finalists would follow before a final contract offer, with the board hoping to have a new superintendent in place within the first few weeks of the 2015-2016 school year, which begins Aug. 17.