Mike Richie, District Administrator
November - Spirit Article
TRSD Superintendent Search Update
The search for a new superintendent continues to move forward, as I will be retiring effective at the end of the 2022-23 school year. The school board has hired a search firm Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates to assist them with the search to hire a new superintendent. Established in 1987, Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates (HYA) is one of the oldest and largest search firms having assisted more than 1,600 school boards select exceptionally talented leadership in school systems across the nation. Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates works with boards in an effort to assist them in making the best possible leadership decisions, assisting with searches nationwide.
Individual School Board interviews and 10 focus groups were completed in early to mid-October. HYA focused on three questions for all groups. 1) What is good and what are you the most proud of in the Tomorrow River School District? 2) What are the challenges of the Tomorrow River School District - now and into the future? 3) What characteristics are you looking for in your next superintendent?
HYA has taken all of this information and looked for common themes. From those common themes, they created a District Leadership Profile Report and presented this report to the School Board on October 24 in open session. This report is now posted on the District website under Superintendent Search. The report will also assist the applicants to learn more about the school district, along with its strengths and challenges. It can also serve as a great roadmap for the new superintendent.
On November 15, the search consultant from HYA will meet with the Board in closed session and present a slate of six qualified candidates who best match the District Leadership Profile Report and who are considered to be a good fit for the district. The Board will conduct first round interviews of these six qualified candidates on November 28 and 29. The Board will then narrow the six candidates down to three finalists.
Following the first round of interviews, the three finalists will each spend one full day in the district on December 5, 6, and 7. The purpose of the day in the district is to give each candidate a chance to get to know the district and community better. They will spend time touring the schools and community. Also a number of meet and greets will take place as well. This will give the students, staff and community a chance to meet the three finalists.
The last step of the search process is to bring the three finalists back for a final interview with the School Board. Final interviews will take place mid-December. Pending background checks and contract negotiations, the goal is to name the new superintendent at either the December or January School Board meeting. The official start date for the new superintendent will be July 1, 2023.
This is a long thorough process and one of the Board’s most important tasks, to hire a superintendent. In Wisconsin last year, there were over 100 superintendent openings and all indications this year is there will once again be a high number of superintendent positions open throughout the state.