FREMONT — The last time the Fremont school district conducted a full search before hiring a superintendent, 16 community members sat on a panel to help select the new schools chief.
But having too many people involved may have slowed the process, and names of candidates were leaked to the public before the board was ready to announce its choice, officials say.
To avoid repeating such problems, the school board voted 3-2 Monday to conduct a "closed" search this time, meaning only the five trustees will interview the candidates and decide among themselves who will succeed retiring Superintendent Milt Werner.
Trustees Ivy Wu, Bryan Gebhardt and Lara York voted for a closed search while Lily Mei and Larry Sweeney wanted to bring in community members only when the list of candidates had reached five.
Although community members won't sit on a selection panel, Wu said, board members have received input from stakeholders through surveys and recorded comments they made during 33 recent meetings throughout the district.
"There are 275 responses from the community," Wu said. "We have an idea of what people are looking for in a superintendent."
Board members also had concerns that a community panel of 16 members, like in 2003 when John Rieckewald was hired, would be too large, and that it would be difficult to select which community members got to serve if the panel was downsized.
"It's not that the board (is) excluding the community, but ... (there are) too many complexities," Wu said. "We're not going to please everyone. But since we (the trustees) are elected, it's our responsibility to pick the right person."
The head of the teachers union as well as a parent spoke against a closed search and instead urged trustees to involve community members in the interview process. Another district employee supported a closed interview so as not to discourage potentially strong candidates from applying.
According to the district's consultant, Carolyn McKennan, usually one-third fewer applicants apply when there is no guarantee of full confidentiality because they do not want word getting back to their current employers that they are seeking another position.
Despite the split vote, trustees agreed that they want a strong pool of candidates.
The district has had three superintendents in five years, and trustees are looking for stability. Furthermore, the next superintendent named not only will lead one of the state's highest-performing school districts but will head one of the city's largest employers.
Contact Linh Tat at 510-353-7010 or ltat@bayareanewsgroup.com. Follow her at Twitter.com/Linh_Tat.
