The board, along with search firm Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, is asking district stakeholders to complete an online survey about the state of the district and characteristics desired in its future leader.
“The online survey is a way to gather information from people who are connected to the school district,” HYA senior associate Peter Flynn said.
Survey participants will be asked to identify with one of the six following groups: administrators, community members, parents of FBISD students, support staff, teachers and students.
A link to the online survey, which is available in English and Spanish, can be found here. The survey is available until April 16.
Information from the survey, along with notes collected in a series of 20-25 focus groups as well as interviews with board members and district leaders, will be used to formulate a leadership profile.
“The [leadership profile] will be the tool we will use to recruit,” HYA senior associate Nola Wellman said. “We will look at those strengths, those characteristics and recruit your future leader using that.”
The district is working to identify stakeholders to be a part of the community engagement phase, which is slated for mid-April.
FBISD trustees held a planning meeting March 31 with HYA during which community engagement was discussed. The board also established a timeline and basic criteria for its upcoming superintendent search.
The board decided that potential candidates would be recruited from districts across the nation and that candidates will be kept confidential throughout the process.
The aforementioned leadership profile will be presented to the board for approval in late April— tentatively during the April 26 regularly scheduled board meeting.
Following a recruitment and vetting phase in May, board members will meet to conduct interviews with a select number of finalists and name a sole finalist in mid- to late June.
The next superintendent is anticipated to begin in early August prior to the beginning of the 2021-22 school year.
“I would love our goal to be at least to have someone hired and say hello to our staff before kids come,” trustee Angie Hanan said.
FBISD Superintendent Charles Dupre announced his planned resignation in November. He continues to serve in the role throughout the search process.
