The Ideal Superintendent

Debbie Hamme

A little more than a year ago, the Culver City Unified School District went through the complex process of selecting a new superintendent. At that time, The Cosca Group was hired to do the superintendent search and held numerous staff and community meetings in an effort to select the best possible candidate for our district. Long into the process, which had narrowed the candidates to a final three, the board allowed Patti Jaffe to be considered for the position, and the rest is history.

With Ms. Jaffe's announcement that she is retiring in June, the board is once again beginning such a search. This time around I think it is important to decide the parameters of the search and stick to them. Stakeholders will still have varying opinions over what qualifications they would like to see in our new superintendent, but our small district has been through a lot of turnover in the last few years and we need a sense of security restored to CCUSD. To that end, it would be nice to find a superintendent that plans to stay with us for quite some time.

Of course it is important for a candidate to possess the experience that makes them capable of doing the job and prepares them for the challenges they will face in a new district. This may mean that the candidate has had previous experience as a superintendent in another district, but since every district has its own peculiarities, a transitional period will have to be expected regardless of our final choice. Our new superintendent will need experience in many facets of education: teaching, curriculum, testing, the achievement gap, and other critical issues that directly affect our students. Our new superintendent will need to be cognizant of the demographics of our district and the importance of providing equal access to services and support for all students to ensure that every student receives the same opportunities for success.

Honesty and integrity are equally as important as experience. A superintendent should be honest, open, and approachable—someone who stays true to their word and their vision. We will need someone who realizes the importance of researching all aspects of an issue thoroughly and understanding the data completely before making a decision. Once the research has been done and all input considered, the superintendent needs to be confident enough in the process to not only make a decision, but be able to explain it effectively.

And, lastly, I would like to see a superintendent with a history of fostering and facilitating good working relationships with all stakeholders in the districts in which they’ve worked—staff, parents, community members, and yes, the bargaining units, too. For CCUSD, it is important, now more than ever, for us to work together to unify our district by focusing on our commonalities and not our differences.

Debbie Hamme is a Staff Writer for the Culver City Progress Blog and the President of the Culver City Association of Classified Employees.