Superintendent search: A perspective, present and future

Editor’s note: This community view was presented at the March Creswell School Board meeting during the public input section.
It has been my experience and opinion of the Creswell School District that there has been only a few areas that have improved in the last seven-plus years, and other problems have seen a noticeable rise, including:
• Record increases in school spending on non-educational partnership programs;
• Record consecutive years of students leaving the district;
• Record number of consecutive years failing the Oregon Department of Education Division 22 report, in which the district was delinquent in keeping its curriculum current and up-to-date; and
• Record lawsuits and complaints against the district that are still growing from within and throughout.
Remarkably, it actually seems that fulfilling the minimum number of schools classroom hours is something to brag about. And sadly, the overall scholastic improvement is statistically a flat line for this tenure.
You have before you the opportunity to choose a new superintendent.
The superintendent’s responsibilities and obligations are well-documented and have general standards associated with the role. Along with responsibilities, the superintendent also has obligations — not only to the school employees and students, but to the public.
Associations with volunteer groups and organizations, while generally commendable, are not suitable for talking and and listening to the general public. On all counts, as many others feel, this has not happened in the last seven-plus years.
The district has — or did have — guidelines and requirements that were waved at the last hiring. This isn’t always a bad thing, but I feel in this case was inappropriate.
A superintendent selection should be open and with as much public exposure and input as absolutely possible; anything else is a slap in the face to the community.
The right selection is the key.
Any escalation or speeding up of any selection process is a disservice to the community.
After all, while the board is responsible for the students, they are in fact obligated to the community — the entire community.