Mr. Cy Mr. Hayward >> here >> here >> Dr. Bender >> here >> Stevenson >> here >> Mr. Tang >> here calves >> Dr. here.
>> Thank you. All right. Um, can I get a motion to go into closed? All right. We have Angela Pender, seconded by Ed Hayward. No action will be taken during closed session and then we will uh come back in
a few minutes and open the meeting. All right. Um, so 601 going back into close. All right. So, we are going to um we're back in our public session and we're going to proceed with our public session
agenda. Um Ed, are you able to lead us through a flag salute, please? >> Sure. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice
for all. >> Thank you. Adequate notice of meeting in accordance with the open public meetings act PL1 1975 chapter 231 as amended by PL 2025 chapter 72. Adequate notice of this meeting was provided on March 9th by
posting the formal agenda and notice on the Glenrock public schools website where legal notices and advertisements are listed. glenrockmj.org board of education notices. Miss Stevenson, are you able to read our mission statement, please?
The Glenrock School District, founded on principles of education in partnership with a supportive community, provides an exceptional education to all students to cultivate resilient, responsible and engaged global citizens. Thank you.
Thank you. All right. So um today um we have our um uh search firm interviews and we are excited to welcome uh three companies um that we will be learning about and uh we've formulated nine
questions um and we'll kind of just do go around as as we go. We'll start with um with you Joe and you can read question one and we'll just go you know this way all the way through nine um and give you ample time to answer. Um so our
first search firm is uh TL if you're able to you can please come and I understand that you did have um now presentation material and we didn't prepare um the back but if you email them to me even or or anybody we can
okay thank you Okay. I'd be happy to forward any um emails if you need to. >> Thank you. I'll do you have a second one for Okay. Thank you.
All right. Thank you. All right. Um, so just before we even, you know, get started, we'll do the same thing for everybody. Um if you I know we have nine you know like robust questions and so there's probably an element of
doover at some points in time but if you want to just start by just telling us a little bit about yourself um and then when you feel you know uh well enough then we'll just start uh with the questions. Thank you. >> Turn your microphones on. >> Oh uh the green the little green. Perfect.
>> Thank you. Uh by way of introduction uh there's four of us here. We'll each introduce ourselves. Uh my name is Dr. Jim McLaclin. Uh I'm a retired superintendent of school uh currently uh serving as an interim in some different administrative capacities and of course
doing the work that we'll be describing to you here tonight. >> All right. My name is Dr. Michelle Aquino. I am currently a superintendent of schools for a little over 10 years. Um my experience ranges to assistant superintendent um middle school and
elementary principal for approximately 14 years and mathematics teacher at the middle school level. Uh and as a part of TLE um really enjoying doing the work of uh strategic leadership whether it's through strategic planning, superintendent searches, whatever that
area might be where a board could utilize us. >> Good evening. My name is Mike Climco. I had 33 years in education, retired two years ago, spent 21 years as an administrator, assistant principal for five, principal for 16 at an elementary school. The assistant principal ship was
at a middle school. um teacher before that for 12 years, mostly math, focusing on math and some elementary and have really enjoyed working with TLE to get to know districts and find out what their needs are and really work hard on coming up with different plans, variety
of things that we work with with TLE. >> Good evening everyone. Phipe Luis. Uh I am currently an assistant superintendent. I've worked as a principal, a U there's a common theme here, also a math teacher before that, special ed teacher, and I've worked really closely with the district
leadership to make sure we're hiring the best candidates that are out there for different highle leadership positions in different districts that I've worked in. >> Thank you so much for that introduction. All right, uh so we'll begin with our round of questions.
microphone. All right. Uh if I could ask you the first question, uh I'd like to ask you what is your strategy to identify and attract high quality super candidates in this very competitive market in Bing County
and kind of second part of question is how do you plan to reach to the passive candidate who are not actively looking for a new job? Thank you. That's a great question. Um, one of the advantages that we have uh as an independent uh group is
that uh we don't have any conflict of interest in terms of reaching out to those who we're affiliated with through organizations such as NJASA uh which is the basically the superintendent group for the state of New Jersey. Uh we're all
active uh within that organization. uh that's a primary type of person-toperson uh reach. Uh there are certainly the traditional methods uh which I think are becoming less and less uh common in terms of attracting folks. Uh but there
are still advertisements that uh and that's up to the board too. There's a whole variety of uh areas that we can present to the board and say do you want a national outreach? Do you want a regional outreach? Do you want a New Jersey outreach? Uh one of the the key
areas too is working with uh individuals who uh not are not only superintendent but those who may have extensive experience uh as assistant superintendent uh at that level many uh many individuals are primed for this
type of work. Uh one of the again part of what we do uh we are involved I've been involved for example in the doctoral program uh both at St. leaders and it's sentinary uh a lot of uh individuals are recruited through those
programs. So uh it is a lot of um uh interpersonal outreach. Uh but certainly that would be our approach would be to combine the formal approach which is you know advertising on NJ school jobs uh ed week if you wanted to do that um but
then also uh making those calls and approaching individuals. Um I we've been in a position I think uh too where you know we're familiar with that because we get the calls and and and that is usually the most effective uh method of
recruiting individuals. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you and welcome uh two-part question. How large is your typical candidate pool and how do you ensure both quality and
diversity in recruitment? And part two is what differentiates your firm's network from other search firms operating in New Jersey. >> Okay. >> I think a typical pool um is
approximately 40 to 50 candidates um qualified candidates I should say. You sometimes may get some folks that may apply but may not fit the qualifications. Um so I I think that that would be a a traditional pool to
have and uh the second part making sure that diversifying the candidate pool and is that I'm sorry could you repeat the second part right your network from other >> well I think one of the the really key
aspects of our network is that we're actively involved in the community right now, right? Whether it's through the work that we are doing, through our colleagues in the industry as well as um you know, recent candidates, you know, Dr. McGlaclin just recently retired, but
yet still very active in the education community serving in in different district work. >> Yeah. And I'm just going to couple that again with some of the professional organizations that we're affiliated with. I've mentioned a couple of them. Uh but interestingly, I was asked to join the Latino superintendent group. I
asked them if they made a mistake, you know, looking at my last name and but uh those groups are not just made up of those identifiers that sometimes uh are um part of their title. Uh and it actually is a great group to be a part
of. Um I've been a um a superintendent of a majority Latino district. So uh I found it uh greatly beneficial to be a part of that network. Uh there's a new uh network that we have been uh involved
with which is uh called the NJEAL uh which is I I'd call a non-traditional superintendent group. We're part of all of them and that's really how you make connections with a wide breath of of individuals. uh and as uh Michelle
mentioned uh you may have a candidate pool of 40 but one of the pieces that we feel that we need to offer to you and of course the whole process is up to the board. We will tailor our approach to what the board wants but uh we would provide a review of anyone we would
consider to be a finalist. the board would see everyone who applied, but certainly we would annotate um our thoughts in regard to individuals who were applying. Um some of that might come through the process that the board defines. For example, if they wanted our
group to do preliminary uh interviews or if you wanted us just to be a part of preliminary interviews that the board did. um that can all be uh established, you know, should you choose uh our firm to work with you uh that we would tailor
this uh to the approach that you want to take, but we certainly uh would look forward to providing our insights if the board uh was interested in that. >> Thank you. >> Okay, welcome. Um how do you ensure the confidentiality for sitting
superintendents who might apply? It's a big issue. It's a big issue and it's one of the things uh actually uh one of my last uh jobs as superintendent uh when I was leaving the do school district uh was to be a part of the next superintendent search and it was
something that was emphasized over and over again uh to anyone who was involved in in the process that this had to be highly confidential. uh individuals who are working, which is the pool that you
want to be working with, uh are are not want to have their board know that they're looking. Okay? And we we understand that. We uh respect that. So certainly uh from our point of view, there's a lockdown on anyone who who
applies. there's we're not calling any references unless someone said, "Hey, I I would really like you to talk to my board president knows and I'd like you to speak to them." That would be different. But, uh, outside of that, certainly, uh, the confidentiality has
to be at 100% for this type of process. And if I could piggyback on that, one of the the key aspects of the work that we do is really making sure there's a dedicated website to the process so that there's an open line of communication, which I'm sure we'll dialogue about in
one of your further questions. But what's really important is that on whether it's a posting, whether it's on that website where we're dialoguing about the search, we're also making sure that we are ensuring in our communication with applicants that it's a confidential process and their
confidentiality will be respected throughout because it what we have found is that that will help experienced superintendent that are under contracts be able to apply knowing that that's going to be a respected process. >> Thank you.
What is your understanding of Glenrock Public Schools strengths and challenges and what leadership qualities do you believe are most important for a superintendent in a high performing district like we have here? >> So, uh I know you're supposed to say
nice things when you interview before a board, but these are genuine uh positives, you know, that we've pulled away in our research about Glen Rock. Uh I think going back to 2019 and the uh response of your community to the referendum that was put forward, your
emphasis on improving the infrastructure of the schools uh both from a brick and mortar point of view but also from an academic point of view recognizing uh special education and ESL needs uh is is critically important and it it shows
that there's not only a dedication to academic improvement for all but a real dedication to to those uh learners who may have special needs or need special services. Uh I think that that's noteworthy and it speaks uh volumes
about the district. Uh I the um very unique institution of having a community school. Uh I I found that intriguing. I think our whole group uh was impressed by that very unique model and how that may have come about. uh especially being
in many ways a forerunner of what people are espousing for preschool education. It looks like Glenrock was ahead of the curve certainly on on making that opportunity available for its community. So and you know and overall um the the achievements of the district
academically speak for itself. You know as you go around and the different buildings and see uh the recognitions that are on the outside of the buildings it's very impressive. If I can add as well, we've all been successful working in the district where
programs and introducing new programs, for example, AP opportunities, concurrent opportunities are really important to those districts. So, knowing those needs and knowing those pointed questions that we can certainly ask the candidates is how have they developed those type of programs, those
type of offerings for for districts that are looking for those opportunities for their students to go to college and career. So, those are experiences that we've had in meeting our districts and having that ability to to bring those type of questions forward to make sure we have somebody that's going to be an educational leader, someone who's going
to have that foresight and that mentality that they want to bring that that me that that mindset forward to your staff, to your students, to the whole community. And if I could just add one other item, sorry to be longwinded on this response. Uh but I think one of the other
impressive pieces in watching your last board meeting, uh we know that you're inviting your school board rep to come in and talk about um strategic planning. So that's something that's close to our heart. It's work that we're currently uh involved in heavily. We're just
completed work in Fort Lee and we will be uh engaging in that work. Uh we actually have begun that work in Jericho, Long Island. Uh and we know how important strategic planning is uh to a district not only uh for the governance
of the board uh but for uh all the stakeholders to know the direction that the district's going in and to combine that with a new superintendent is ideal because your new superintendent comes in. Knowing the thoughts of the communities, the priorities, the aspirations, the strengths, the
challenges, uh, gives the board an opportunity to form goals for that that new superintendent. So, um, I will say that I don't know if it's purposeful or not. I'm going to say it it probably is. I didn't hear this piece from the board
meeting, but combining looking for a new leader and a strategic plan, I think, is is really really a a great move by the district. Thank you. >> Hi, welcome. How do you incorporate community input
into the development of a candidate profile? >> All right. So um our our group is centered our our touchstone is around community engagement and stakeholder feedback and we believe what differentiates us um from others is that
we have a transformative engagement process. So we we will of course meet with the board talk about what works best for Glenrock. However we also leverage a tool uh have you utilized thought exchange as a school district?
Um, so we we will leverage that as a a tool. It's a part of the work. We believe in in-person uh work. We believe in in doing it virtual, a combination of both. We've utilized whatever gets more people to the table and of course
breaking out stakeholder groups. So having the dialogues with of course the board, but also engaging the staff, engaging the community, incorporating student voice. Uh that is all uh critical components of the work. uh we will begin with even having um a survey
where we're listening to just a a we do do this through thought exchange. So we partner with them as a part of our service work. It's not something that um we ask anyone to purchase as an aside. And if you when we will do a a survey,
so for example, what are the priorities that you are looking for in the next um superintendent of your school district? and it allows community members to enter their thoughts on what those priorities are. But what differentiates um is that
the anybody who is on that forum can view every thought that's entered and of course it we have ground rules right not naming names nothing disparaging things like this um and everyone not only can view each other's thoughts so it's a
very very transparent process but you can rate it so it's not just the loudest voices in the room but for as long as that's in open you're able to rate the priorities. So we have had and we are happy to share some examples of that and
show you. Um we will of course do that type of an exchange ask the community leave it open for a week, two weeks, whatever works best and then we provide a summary and we will post that on your website where you're able to see the priorities which we will list. You're
also able to see how many people are participating, what languages they're participating in. Um as we had shared we are currently working in Jericho which you know number one school district in the state of New York for achievement and we were able to capitalize on I
believe approximately 20% of the participants had taken it in their native language. So they might not have been able to typically be a part of that experience. Um and then we will utilize that to of course drive the priorities and sharing that with you. But then in
our smaller forums, we will do um something similar, but we'll typically do what we will call a sore analysis where uh we will ask, which links really nicely to what Jim was saying to the work that you're doing with the strategic plan because it could tee you
up for that next um level, but what are the strengths of the Glenrock schools? What are the opportunities, right, the challenges? And we will ask each question and do it live in the forum. So people are engaging in that anonymously. It's showing up on a screen. People are
rating it live. And then we will ask you know maybe the top three or four rated thoughts if the authors would be willing to share a little bit more with the audience as to why they had chosen that. And we have found success with that both in person as well as virtual. And we have it's 2026. we have to capitalize on
both morning, evening, whatever the best opportunities are. We then will ask about their aspirations for the district. So if they were to flash forward three years, what are the aspirations for the students um in the Glenrock schools? We'll also ask them how we know we're making results for
that superintendent because it will be important, right? If the community would like to see a dashboard on how the school district is performing, that's going to be really important information when we are doing our interview process to be able to ask questions that are centered around the specific community
needs. So, it's not a one-sizefits-all experience that we just place different names and then move from place to place. the data finding component and the community engagement are really um critical to driving the interview
process and then really beginning with the meet and greets and and into the interviews which um you know when we we talk a little bit more about that and how the board would like to tailor that uh that information is is really critical because you're hearing from everyone and again it's not always just
the loudest people in the room but you're hearing from your stakeholders too. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh what vetting process do you use beyond resumes and references? How do you identify potential red flags before presenting candidates to the
board? >> Well, certainly uh we know that everything is available u on the internet. So one of the things that we will do is a thorough uh internet search uh and uh ensure that if there's
anything that has been uh publicly uh shared that that we certainly uh make note of that. Uh that being said um people in leadership positions are often in the paper and and they don't come without controversy. So I think part of the vetting process is if there is
something that's a potential red flag that that's fully explored with the candidate and the candidate has the opportunity uh to respond to it. So certainly uh those uh those types of uh conversations although uh they're they're not always the most uh easiest
ones to have are very necessary to have. uh and uh I don't want to I I don't I think one of the things that's really important is that we certainly would not uh eliminate a very qualified candidate based on a flag but the board would be
made aware of anything that was uh you know that that that brought up that type of concern. uh as the process progresses obviously everything is very anonymous you know in the beginning but when you have finalists
and when I say finalists I mean when you're down to your one two or third candidate uh at that point you need to ask your candidates okay we we need to be able to dialogue uh who can we dialogue with that brings us closest to this information um it might be a a
county superintendent of schools which usually is a a good person uh that has a close relationship with the superintendent if they're a practicing superintendent, but not someone on their board. So, they're they they also are very mindful of the fact that they may
not be able to to speak to this or we might uh speak to the school boards rep for that region. Uh again, this would all be we would have dialogue with those candidates before we did that, but that would be part of that vetting process. Hi. Um, how many finalists do you
typically present to a board and how do you help boards evaluate culture and governance fit? >> Well, I I would say that there's no magic number. Um, I when you're saying you mean in from the original applicant
pool to the first round or second round or >> I think you had said you have 40 or 50 and then how do how many do you present to the board? So as a meet and greet component um and and that would be something that we would want to dialogue with the board about because philosophically we think it's really
important to take candidates from paper to meeting and learning a little bit about them before even hitting let's say a formal first round interview. So from a meet and greet standpoint, um, and if there's board members that would like to
be a part of that from a personnel committee, let's just say, uh, it's really good to likely have everyone that looks like they're a valuable candidate on paper. So even if it was 12 or 14 meet and greets just because sometimes
someone may look really great on paper but when you have that conversation you may realize that they may be a good candidate but not the right candidate to put in front of a board. Then really bringing it forward to the board for the first round and likely second round. I
mean, I would say having six viable candidates would be a really great number for the lengthier interview and then breaking that down to, you know, your two or three finalists where we dig more deeply and then make a decision on
what those finalists look like. Do we do site visits? Do we um ask them to prepare something and present and make that a part of the experience of getting to that you know final one or two candidates that you're going to hit the
reference component Dan? >> Yeah, good evening. How do you ensure the search process remains legally compliant in New Jersey and what transition support do you provide after a superintendent is hired?
Yeah. So, uh I think we're all uh very familiar with uh the legal requirements u terms of certification, in terms of experience, the mentoring process uh that if if someone's a new superintendent that they would have to go through if they were uh going through
their school administrator certificate for the first time. Uh so that piece of it uh I can tell you we're we're very well acquainted with. uh the the second part of your question um can you repeat that one more time for me just so I am a little >> second what transition support
>> okay thank you so um one of the pieces that I mentioned which is a really great setup and again this is dialogue with the board and everything that we do uh we like to use the term that we're a boutique agency we don't work with you know 10 people at a time and our
processes uh will look different you know for Glenrock than they will from uh any other place that we're working with because this is your search and your leader that you're looking for. So um but if in fact you were moving ahead
with uh the strategic plan that's a great mentoring tool at the same time and I know I'm repeating myself here but I think it's worth worth uh saying again because it sets that uh individual up and even if you didn't go formally into
a strategic plan the processes that we utilize are the are very similar to those that we use in strategic planning and reaching out to the stakeholders and finding out what the aspirations of your community are, what the challenges are, what do they prize most highly about the
district that they never want to go away and what are some of the things they really hope go away. So those things are critical for the new leader to know and come in so that they are prepped for the work that's ahead of them. Um certainly
uh we are happy if the the board ever wanted us to engage in ongoing work once a leader was established uh to provide some type of consult. Uh that would certainly be up to to the board. Uh we've done a little bit of that. For
example, when we were in Fort Lee, uh we went beyond the strategic planning process to work with their administrators. So that's something that I think that certainly we would have the capacity to do, but it's not necessarily part of what we uh planned here tonight.
But one of the critical uh pieces is not just picking your leader. And I think that's what your question goes to. It's how do we enable our new leader to have success right from the get-go? Because as soon as they land in the seat, expectations begin. No one's giving a
warm-up of one or two years. Okay? you you need to do the job right away and there are expectations. Uh it's kind of like being a you know a coach uh you know at the collegiate or the pro level. Nobody's given you uh a couple of years to kind of get the hang of things. So um
you know that and I think that having been in the seat um being in the seat uh we have a unique perspective on what the pressures are, what the relationship needs to be between a superintendent and their board. um what the relationship
needs to be between the superintendent and the wider community. Uh what are the interactions that have to take place at the county level with their your counterparts um and with your uh state and and county officials? >> Thank you so much. Um what guarantee or
follow-up support do you provide if a superintendent leaves early? And uh given that we're starting here in you know March um with a 90-day notice requirement, how do you see the timeline working to have a new superintendent in
place by August 31st? >> I think there's ample time. We have a timeline that's laid out in here, but again, as we've said multiple times, all of this is adaptable to what the board wants to do. But I think that your timeline is really uh well planned in
terms of when you expect to have someone in place. Uh and it's it is good to have someone uh before the new year begins. Uh and and having someone selected um even during that waiting process can be a time where we interact with the
successful candidate uh to work through some of those items that we just mentioned. uh again to prepare them for success and prepare the district for success. Um there isn't any guarantee, you know, there's so many reasons that
that somebody will become a 20-year superintendent. I don't know if those exist anymore, but uh or or a three-year uh you know, individual. Uh but our aim is not just to put a good candidate that the board likes and and you know feels
comfortable uh approving but really to have someone who has an opportunity to plant their feet here to call Glenrock home and to really work uh in tandem with the staff. Uh, you know, it's it's interesting. I'll just share this quickly with you now in in the life of
an interim. Uh, staff say many more things to you than they do when you're a permanent person. But one of the things that they they will say is people come and go. We'll wait through this. They'll be gone. And that's not the mindset that you want. You want someone who says, "We found the right person. This is a leader
that we can that we can share a vision with um that believes in our school district. We believe in our school district and we are see ourselves moving forward with together. >> All right. Thank you so much. Um I guess you know in the interest of fairness we really
wanted to come up with like nine questions that we would solidly be able to answer or ask everybody the same. Um and I think that uh in this we've gotten to know you all quite a bit plus the material that we have here in front of
us to review. Um and so thank you. Can we ask them if they have any questions for us? >> Yeah, absolutely. >> Do do you have any thoughts or any questions for us? >> Well, the we definitely wanted to hear a little bit more about your timeline. So, that's very helpful to be able to bring
back. And then, of course, as Jim had shared, this was a sample timeline. However, you know, we can certainly tailor it um to whatever the the board's needs and desires would be. And I think the experience of hiring for so many
different positions that we have been a part of, you know, thinking about it from a superintendent's perspective, of course, but also hiring for different leadership positions, frontline for students, principles, um, etc. We we have been on many different timelines
for hiring and figured out how to prioritize accordingly. So, um, >> sure. >> We just wanted to make sure we highlighted that experience. And we also know how important it is to in this case align a board uh with the
superintendent, right? And that important relationship that exists and making sure that that is something that is bridged. So um from that end, >> yeah, I think our questions will come if you select us because then we'll have questions about how you want to mold
this and make it your own. And uh again, uh that's what we seek to do. It's important that you don't follow any process that we have. Although we may have suggestions, we will tailor it for the board. But those questions would revolve around who do you want to do the preliminary interviews,
how many levels of interview do you want to do, what what's the style of feedback that you prefer, all those types of things. But those would be questions that would be forthcoming. >> Totally understand. And you know just as a general answer I would say that um our our most you know precious goal is that
we have just the right person in the right time. And so it's not so much that we are pressured by like an August 31st date. Um we're we're not that is a that is a good goal date and um we would like to make sure that we are giving the process the time that it needs in order
to get there. If we are able to have um the right candidate that is presenting that wants to be here and we want them to be here and you know you've presented them to us then that works great. If you feel like um based on the pool that we need more time then I I think that
you'll find that this board is is willing to give the time that's necessary to welcome the right person. >> Great to hear. >> All right. >> Well, we appreciate you uh allowing us to speak to you tonight. >> You said you have a logistical question. Sure.
>> Um I I'll just write it down too because then I'll have to make sure that you know all of the >> I just want to understand because I I think I hear probably some of you are part-time for this. You have another job. I just want to understand that your team is four members and who is
full-time? Who's part-time? >> Yeah. Well, our work on this will be full-time. Uh it isn't the only thing that we do. Uh we are, you know, all involved in in in educational work. Um but uh I can guarantee you you have our full commitment. Uh we don't ask you to
delay meetings or to work around schedules that we have. There are four of us and all four of us are involved in the process. All four of us don't always need to be there for every part of the process. So one of the reasons that we always work as a group is is that at
least two of us are always available and we're intimately aware of what's going on. But for transparency, you do have another job, right? >> Yes, there are there are two people on our team who who are full-time uh in their uh educational work and two of us
who are retired and have more time for you. >> Thank you. >> One last question. >> Okay. Okay. >> I'm sorry. Is there anything that you want to leave us with? Any comment that you would like to leave us with?
I just to begin I would say um we love New Jersey schools. It's at the heart of all of our our souls. It's the only work we've really ever engaged in and we take great pride and finding the we finding
the leader of a school district is a passion project, right? Um it's a critical component and we believe that the less turnover a school district faces the better that that district is going to be. Usually more often than not
it's the largest employer and largest operating system in a in a community. And because that's our work and that's what we have all dedicated our lives to. We have seen too often that turnover happening in districts. and we find
bridging that there's nothing more rewarding to us in that. So I I think that would be one component that drives us in this endeavor. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you tonight.
>> It's a pleasure. Awesome. um in public still too. All right. Um so great, we just did our first interview. That's great. The So we we came up with the questions just to make sure that there's um just a consistent process and
it's it's it's also protective. Um, so the additional two questions that were asked, um, I'll make sure that I'm going to ask those questions in the most neutral variation of it, um, possible because technically one of them might
not apply. Um, so I'll ask those two questions and then that would say that's it. Um, because then the final question it'll end with the same like is there a comment that you want want to leave us with and everybody will have that um, you know, like same process. Um I believe they had the two questions and I
I had said do they have any questions for us? >> I think that's technically have to add on. >> Yeah, I that's kind of combined into like that last demon. So I think um it's the same thing but I'll make sure um to do that and um that just keeps us
protected and it keeps it fair for for them. All right. Um Mr. Canelis. Oh. Hello. Hello. Welcome. >> They are they are all right.
So, take a moment to just get yourself situated and comfortable. All right. Are you You can tell me when you're ready. >> All right. All right. Thank you. Um so, thank you and welcome uh to our, you
know, search interview night. Um so, this is a wondrous occasion. and we're thankful that um you submitted uh the RFP um and are here to um present in front of us. Um so if I could just let you know we'll have about nine to 11 um
questions um uh through this process and if you're able to start by just kind of giving us a little bit of a um clip about yourself um how you got here and and what you're looking to do. Oh, if you um you can press
>> any one of them. >> How about that? >> Better. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Okay. My name is Michael Kusharp. I am a current superintendent of schools for the South Bergen Joiner Commission in Lower Bergen County located in Teter.
We're a special needs public school district. We service 18 school districts. We deal mostly with students on the autism spectrum and students with uh emotional regulation impairment. We also bus over uh $60 million in
transportation. So we do quite a bit of busing. Prior to that I was superintendent in Bergenfield for 12 years. So currently over 20 years as a superintendent. Um, I also uh started the search about
15 years ago with a national search firm. A close friend of mine and mentor Dr. William Lrerea, a former commissioner, recruited me to work with him at H by Whoop, shouldn't have said that. At a national search firm uh and I
also had a colleague of mine, Dr. Frank Orima, work with this national firm. After doing a number of searches, we decided we could do this better on our own. So, we started strategic uh
exemplary alliance roughly 12 years ago. We've done over 60 searches in the New York, New Jersey area. Uh currently we're doing four searches, three in Mammoth County, one in Bergen County. Uh
we we are uh a firm that works on building a profile and custom making the uh profile and recruit candidates to the district. So we're all about making matches. I'm proud to say after over 60
searches, we offer a two-year guarantee that if it doesn't work out, the person leaves or the board terminates, we come back and do the search for free. In all these years, we never had to utilize that insurance. And if we're lucky enough to get the Glenrock Search,
we're not going to make this be our first. So, I'll let my colleague Judy introduce her herself. >> Thank you for uh inviting us here this evening. My name is Judy Ratner. I am often refer to myself as a recovering
retired superintendent. Um, I actually was the superintendent in Berkeley Heights uh in Union County for 14 years prior to retiring um from public schools. I now am currently the associate executive
director for the New Jersey Association of School Administrators, which are your central office administrators in New Jersey. Um I was very fortunate as a superintendent for 14 years and uh that during that tenure I was named the New
Jersey superintendent of the year in in 2016. Uh and also as a result of that I had the opportunity to work with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on a women's uh leadership initiative called
more than a power lunch. Uh so I've had the opportunity to work nationally mentoring um aspiring educators to become superintendent. Uh in my current role, I do a lot in terms of mentorship, professional
development, um HR and legal uh services in terms of supporting central office administrators in New Jersey. And just like Mike said, I've been working with Michael for a number of
years now, doing searches uh and making sure that we find the best matches for districts. Uh and we do that through a number a series of um stages, but I assume we're going to turn it back to you to ask those questions or Yes.
>> Okay. >> All right. Thank you, Joe. >> Thank Thank you for coming. I think you probably started try to answer some questions we're going to ask them. My first question is can you tell us your
strategy to identify and attract high quality candidates in this competitive market and the second part is uh how do you plan to reach out to candidates who are not actively looking >> the love the question because that's our
strength. Uh I was I could have gone on about my background, but one thing I did in my favorite job is being high school principal. And as a high school principal, people used to say kids aren't involved like they used to be and so on and so forth. Kids are lazy. And I
totally disagree. And because of this, why aren't kids involved? Because we don't ask them. And that's the same thing with the search. Most of our finalists are people that we reach out to. We spend a lot of time in
development of a profile of the candidate and that drives everything we do. But this is a process. It's a process going to make your district stronger because what we do with the board, you identify key stakeholders.
And so we have a process where by the end of our profile development, everybody in the town of Glenrock will have two opportunities to provide input to us and that means everybody. So how
do we do that? So again, we'll have focus groups that you'll identify we should meet with these individuals, whether it be the booster club, the PTAs, the SEPTAS, uh students, teachers, all of that you're going to tell us and
we're going to do. But then we're going to have two open forums, one in person, one virtual that anybody who wasn't invited to give input in a one-on-one that's not part of clubs or activities can come to these open forums. So that's
two opportunities, but you'll also everybody will have an opportunity to take a survey to provide feedback electronically. So, three opportunities for anybody living in Glenrock to
provide feedback. We take all of that information from the surveys, from the focus groups. Judy and I will work and build up this profile. Then we'll meet with the board and go over the profile, tweak it. From that, we develop our
advertisement and that becomes our recruit recruiting plan. And to the point of being high school principal, Judy and I will identify people that fit or we believe fit the profile and we call him up and say to him or her, "Have
you looked on the Glenrock website? Have you seen the profile?" Most times be like, "No, why would I look? Take a look and tell me what you think." Most times they'll call back and say, "Wow, I felt like it was speaking to me." And we'll
get people. So, um I hope also one of the questions is how many people do you get as recruits in a search? What's your All right, I'm not gonna I'm gonna stop then. Judy, do you want to add to that? I'm not going to answer it, but you
better ask the question, please. >> Um but I just wanted to to zero in on the kinds of things that we do in those focus groups. And we're very consistent when we're meeting with the focus groups. um the ones that you identify as well as the you know the public uh
sessions that we have and we really focus on three things. We ask um for the participants to identify what they believe are the current strengths of the Glenrock public schools. We ask them to
identify what they believe will the next superintendent what their challenges will be. And lastly, we always ask, what characteristics do you think the next superintendent should possess in order to be successful in the Glenrock public
schools? >> Thank you. Welcome. Nice to see you both. Uh, how large is your typical candidate pool? How do you ensure both quality and diversity in recruitment? And what
differentiates your firm's network from other search firms operating in New Jersey? >> Lowhanging fruit for us. >> I know. >> Yeah. So, God's honest truth.
Uh, Rochelle Park over 50 candidates. Spring Lake 130 students, K to 8, uh, 130 students. Think how small this is. And we had 51.
51 of the 50 is least 20 strong. It's been very hard for the board to whittle it down to 10 or 12. Um we had a wall that just finished 41
and what was currently Shrewsbury. >> Currently in Shrewsbury and we just uh it's another small K8. There's about 500 students. We have uh 48 candidates um that we just received. >> And now the second part of that question
is what's our recruiting network? Well, we have many of them. First and foremost, NJASA. Judy's the assistant executive director. We are partnered with NJASA. So anyone who calls the state
superintendent organization, anyone from the north, you'll be referred our firm. So that's one through the support of the state superintendent group. Secondly, we have Satan Hall University and Ruckers University. I've worked at Satan Hall
over 15 years teaching uh at the doctoral level and mentoring doctoral students. So we have a wonderful network with Satan Hall as well as Ruckers University. We're partnered with the Penn State Study Council, the New Jersey
Study Council located used to be out of Satan Hall. Now it's down at Kain University. Uh we're partnered with the Middle States Association. When your business administrator called to say our interview was on Thursday, I
said to myself, I'm going to be in Richmond, Virginia, chairing a visitation for accreditation in a special needs school district in Virginia on Thursday. I'll never make it back a seven-hour
ride for 7 o'clock tonight. So, I left Richmond last night and did the final closing activity virtually this morning. I say that to really embellish that we're partnered with the Middle States
Association which brings in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington to DC, etc. Delaware, down to Maryland. So, we are heavilyworked which helps us with the recruiting and that's really our strength. we actively
recruit to the to the uh profile and over time in all these years we've built up such a network that that's definitely one of our strengths >> and I would just add >> I would just add um I just ran a
conference uh on Monday and Tuesday and a statewide conference for women's uh women's leadership and we had over a two-day period 600 attendees ities. Um, and in addition to that, I also uh facilitate the leadership and diversity
committees for NJASA. So, we have connections with NJ Alice and the Black Alliance of uh New Jersey Superintendent. >> And the uh size of the pool isn't just because we actively recruit. There's
another thing that helps the size of the pool. candidates know that when they apply to SEA their confidentiality will be protected. We will never talk about candidates and we will work with you. Is that another
question? I'll stop. Is it >> all right? I'm going to stop. I'm stopping. >> I'm stopping. >> I'm sorry. I'm sorry. >> No, you you'll you'll love this. So how do you ensure confidentiality for
superintendents who who may apply? >> You want me to do it? >> So we work um with the boards most importantly because um through the process and I'm probably going to be answering the next question but through
the process um you will get a copy of every um resume that gets sent to us. uh we will interview everyone who applies and then as a result of that we will
help you to to narrow down the first round, second round, third round interviews. Uh but we stress the importance of the confidentiality because we know that in the past there have been um situations where uh
candidates have been revealed before they should have been and that often time results in a person withdrawing. So, we really make sure that we're stressing with all of you. Um, if you really want the best candidate, the information that we're providing to you
really needs to be held confidential until you get to that final round of one or two or three candidates that you're looking at. And then you're going to do the the um reaching out to check do reference checks and things like that.
>> And we work with the candidates, too, because they're their own worst enemy. And I tell them and Judy and I prepare and we say, "Don't fall prey to fishing expeditions." People come up to you and say, "Oh, we hear you applied for Glenrock." Well, they're just taking a
stab at it. And when you say, "How'd you know who told you?" You're the one who told them. So, just know Judy and I will not say a word, nor will the board of education. And now we know the candidates. We make sure they do not say
a word. So we're we're really we take that very seriously. >> Did I answer? >> Thank you. And you did not answer the sec next question. So I'm very excited about that. >> Um what is your understanding of
Glenrock Public Schools strengths and challenges? And what leadership qualities do you believe are most important for a superintendent in a high demanding district uh like Glenrock? Thank you. Go ahead.
>> Um I I can relate to Glenrock and and the type of district it is. I've been very fortunate in my life, my career, having started my teaching career in Chattam Burough and then the school district of the Chadams. My first administrative position was in the
Monville public schools in Mars County and then in Berkeley Heights. Um all of those districts are high-erforming districts. Um I was very fortunate because all of the um the community was very involved and very invested which is
what I see at Glenrock. Um I know that times have changed so that there are a number of things challenges that we're facing. um mo mostly um the fiscal aspect of of the school districts are
becoming more and more challenging um as various things occur. Um you're dealing more, you know, in a district like this, you're also dealing with mental health issues. Um high expectations, high standards.
um you just need every everybody working together uh in order to get provide the best and safest environment for students. And in order to do that, um, the next superintendent has to be aligned with the community, has to be
aligned with, um, the public, and has to hold, um, high high standards for themselves and for everyone else in order for the students to have their best experiences here. Mike, what would you add? Yeah, I'm going to add to that
that um I have personal knowledge in the fact that um I have four children, my wife and I. The first two were baptized in St. Cathine's and Glenrock as we lived in uh Hocus and St. Cathine's was
our church. Monior McDade was the pastor at the time. Um and so I I have firsthand knowledge of the town and now my children are in their 30s. And I've watched Glenrock grow and see it grow
and develop and become a really high performing district. And I I find it remarkable that in a period of time when you had less than stable leadership for the longest time, you experienced
tremendous growth as a district. So I think the opportunity to find someone who's going to be a good fit and be here for the long haul will bring you in the highest stratosphere of next level of work because it's just remarkable what's
been done here facility-wise, academic wise, reputationwise. Even in the past 15 years, 10 years, uh I had a little hiatus in New York State. I worked in Dobs Ferry High School and my football
coach and athletic director is your athletic director. You call him Frank Violante. We called him Skip Violante. Does anyone call him Skip? No. So through Skip, who's remained a
friend and unfortunately his recent tragedy where he lost his son who I hired as a football coach in Bourbonfield. uh we remain close and I just hear and know what goes on and the
high quality of education that's here on all levels. It's a great place and it's going to be even greater my opinion. How do you balance your other responsibilities for example full-time
employment etc um with working with our school district? Sure. I I might as well go since I'm the one who's burning the candle at both ends. I'm very fortunate that this is my hobby. I love doing searches. I love
working with boards of ed. I love being and meeting new people in new community. I love talking about schools. Most importantly, I love helping. And this is a great way to help. No greater decision can you make as a board than to hire the
right superintendent. And so we really enjoy it. And on a personal level, as I mentioned, I have four children, one of which is neurodeiverse. So I also do this and I create a trust
for her. So when I'm gone, we'll be able to take care of our bureau. So it's twofold. And for me, I mean, being a superintendent for 14 years, you work 247. Um, so what I'm doing now really
feels like part-time, meaning as an associate executive director. So, this I think is a uh provides me with an opportunity to really help um aspiring leaders and help the next generation of superintendent who could benefit from my
experiences. Um, and it keeps me out of trouble because it keeps me busy at night when I was used to doing um the responsibilities as a superintendent. I now have the the opportunity to interview um upcoming leaders uh and
help and support them as they uh venture as superintendent. >> Thank you. Um so yes, you've already answered one of our questions which was how do you incorporate community input into the development of the candidate profile. Um the
next question we'll ask is what vetting processes do you use beyond résumés and references and how do you identify potential red flags before presenting candidates to the board? >> Yeah. Well, first off, we're not going to do
anything to embarrass the board of education in which would embarrass ourselves. So, we're going to vet people before we put them forward. There's not going to be any surprises. And where we have an advantage
uh against most is we have a large network of people that we know and we don't go off of the uh references that are given to us. We'll look at employment. We'll look at their employment record. We'll look at where they've been, where they are, and where
they've been. And we'll go back, not just one district, two districts. We'll go back to three districts as well and get a feel for the strengths and the weaknesses of every candidate because everybody has strengths and everybody
has areas of growth and we just need the right fit of strengths and weaknesses here in Glenlock Rock as every district does >> and we really um use our candidate profile that we develop to to help guide
us with that as well. So, in terms of the vetting process, if we have 45 candidates, like I I mentioned earlier, we Mike and I will interview all 45 of them. We'll spend at least a half an
hour with each with each of them. Um and in addition to that um you know we as Mike said that we we are checking on prior performance and things like that but then we would take those candidates
and check their uh qualifications against the candidate profile and then we'll take the list and divide the list up. So, the people that we believe meet all of the qualifications that are set forth in the candidate profile uh and
had a successful interview and when we did some checks, they would be in our first group of candidates that we would be recommending to you to interview. We would then have a second tier of candidates um who may not have met all
of the the requirements of the candidate profile, but we think are innovative or upcoming or creative problem solvers that we might say to you, you might want to take a look at this person. Just like an easy example is you might say
doctorate preferred um as in part of the candidate profile. If somebody doesn't currently have their doctorate but might be working on it, they would be in that second tier of candidates that you might want to take a look at that you um
wouldn't necessarily have looked at before if you were just strongly adhering to the profile. Um the other thing is oftentimes when you have candidates applying, many of them will apply even though they're not certified
to fulfill the position. So, we really do a close check of the certification as well. >> There's one other thing, Judy, that I think it's important, you know, is that we focus on evidence. We know firsthand that the best
interviewer are sociopaths. They're cunning, they're charming, they read the crowd, they give you what you want, but they don't deliver the cookies. We look at their body of work, what they've done, where they've done it, and
ensure that there's an alignment as well. >> Thank you. >> Hi. >> I know one person got it. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. >> How many finalists do you typically
present to a board? And how do you help boards evaluate cultural and governance fit? zero. We recommend zero. It's the board's choice. And that's our job is to confuse you and say, "I don't know which
one to pick. They're all so good. That's why you've been elected. It's your job. And you live here. We're visiting here. We're assisting you. and we're going to give you great candidates that you as a board will discuss
and and reflect on and choose because you're the ones that know your community what you need. So, we're not going to tell you who should be. What we're going to do is if we get 50 applicants and I have a a worry that if we're fortunate
to get the surge, you'll much more than 50 and it'll be how do you whittle it down? How do you get it down that it's manageable because this is an attractive position. I think you're going to have a
a lot of people wanting it. So again, our job is to present the pool for you to choose. If we have over 50, we'll tell you who meets and exceeds the criteria. We'll tell you who doesn't make it, but one or two things to look
at that maybe you want to interview and then we'll tell you who doesn't meet the criteria. And then it's you as a board. You choose who you want to see because it's your choice. So, that's something we're really strong about that we work
with you, but but we can't relinquish as a board member your authority to select the superintendent then evaluate the superintendent. And I would just add that um you know
our experience has been that boards uh in the first round will any will interview anywhere from 8 to 12 candidates. Um typically for the second round they would take that number and cut it in half to bring back and then um
the final interview um is typically two or three candidates. And you when you go through the interview process, you'll know, you know, you might say, "Oh, we're going to bring six back," but no, really only five, you know, were people that you
really wanted to spend additional time with. Um but I we will say that we will also um help you because we provide um samples of questions for you to consider to pose
um and you know activities. I don't know if it's performances performance assessments. You may want to ask the uh candidate to write an introductory letter to the community. You may want to give them data and ask
them to prepare a PowerPoint presentation so that you can see all aspects of this the superintendent's role and you can see at least a snippet of how that they would perform that.
Um, how do you ensure the search process remains legally compliant in New Jersey? And what transition support do you provide after the superintendent is hired? >> What do you mean by legally compliant? >> Making sure that we're doing everything right. So we follow the EEOC guidelines
equal opportunity and equal access. We'll help you as a board to remain and have fidelity to that. So the first round everyone gets the equal opportunity where they get asked all the same questions. There's no freewheeling
after the first round. Then it's up to the board. you can interview all you want and have all separate questions for different candidates and we even encourage that because now we have to really work and whittle down on fit. So
you'll see it becomes more and more specific as time goes on. Um what was the second part of that question? How do you support the board or the superintendent after they hire? >> Um,
we we tend to become lifelong uh consultants with the district and constantly work with them and and and talk with the candidates. We'll be supporting them certainly through the first two years
and if they need it beyond that, we go well beyond that. uh and that's how also we stay and keep a strong pool of candidates through networking such as that. Okay. What guarantee or followup support
do you provide if a superintendent leaves early? And given that we're starting in April with a 90-day notice usually required for superintendent, how do you see the timeline working to have a new superintendent in place by
August 31st? First thing I'm going to say is we can't rush and we can't worry about getting someone here by September 1st. Judy and I will be the first people to say
if you don't have the right person, you wait. Whether it's three months, six months, a year, or two years, you have to get the right person. And you must wait. We believe in the uh
Collins good to great. You need to get the right people on the bus sitting in the right seats. And you don't fill the seat until you get the right person. And you're going to know when you get the right person. And we'll be the first people to say, "Do not settle. Never
settle." There's another part of the question. >> Well, the other thing you need to be aware of is not every contract has a 90-day clause in it. Um, some actually have 150day clauses. There are some sitting superintendents that have
five-year contracts that require a month for every year of their contract. Um, if they're not a sitting superintendent, most of them have a 60-day clause. Um, so as I would just reiterate what what Mike said, and that is you don't want to
rush the process. You want to make sure that you take your time to to get all the information from the stakeholders, you know, to really assess the survey results to make sure that you're um developing the right profile, that the
ad reflects what the profile um is indicating, um that you take some time to keep the ad out there. I mean, in addition to us recruiting, you also want to be able to not only uh and we would have that conversation with you, not
only recruit in this area because sometimes there are really good candidates from outside of New Jersey that may consider a move to a a high performing district like this. Um, and between Judy, myself, and Dr. vendor
will be able to get you interim superintendent easy at no cost. Um, >> at no cost. >> At no interim. I said in >> Yeah, but not to >> not to us. Meaning to them to us. Meaning they have to pay the interim. >> Yes.
>> I think they understood that. But uh you're throwing me off with that, Judy. And I know that like you've had some incredible people here doing supervisor work that with superintendents. You had my friend Dan Fishbine here and my
friend Bernie Josephsburg here. So it doesn't appear that you lack attracting quality people. >> So I just want to go back to the question again because you know we focused on the second half of it and the first half got a um a little oversought.
So, what guarantee or follow-up do you do you or follow-up support do you provide if a superintendent leaves early? >> We do the two-year guarantee. We come back uh and do this search again. So, we already have the profile, we run an ad,
we screen, and then we do the interview process all over again at no cost. >> Okay. Thank you. >> And I and notice it's two year, not one. We used to have one and I'm like it's not long enough, you know, because in
fairness, you need to give someone more than a year unless they're egregiously not working. And if we do the process right, no one's not going to egregiously not work in a year. So, two is fair. >> Excellent.
>> And three is non-negotiable at this point. >> All right. Um, is there a comment that you want to leave with us or any question that you have of us? >> Yes. At the risk of sounding disingenuous,
but being very sincere, we'd like to thank you for your volunteerism as a board member. It's a tough job. And Judy and I know and Dr. Bendon knows firsthand the importance of being on the board. At
times it's thankless, but our kids need it and you're there for them. And in the words of Fred Rogers, anybody who helps children is a hero to me. So I we want to thank you for what you do. And we
appreciate the opportunity to brag about what we do and the work that we do. So thank you for this opportunity. >> All right. Thank you so much. Thank you. All right. Thanks for your time. It was a pleasure meeting all of you. Thanks for coming
in. Just bite you. All right. Good evening. Good evening. Um, so welcome. Thank you so much for submitting um for the RFP. Um we're thrilled to have you this evening so that we can learn a little bit more about you and you can learn kind of uh
some of the these may be you know some typical kinds of questions but just some of the things that um we are prioritizing in our search. Um I would just ask that one we'll start off with you just telling us a little bit about yourself and your um company and your journey and then each of us will ask a
question and then I'll finish up with a culminating question and um we'll conclude and everyone has had uh the opportunity to hear some of the same questions um or almost verbatim. So thank you again. >> Oh thank you. I I'm really happy to be here. Thank you so much for making the
time to see me. Um, my name is Kathleen Helawa and I am a full-time educational consultant and the vast bulk of my work is in superintendent searches. Um, for the past 10 years, I've worked in school
board governance and prior to that, I was a board member myself, an elected board member. I served three terms in the Warren Township Board of Education, um, which is a prek to 8 district in Somerset County. Um and I actually as a
board member one of the one of the last things that I did with my board uh the year before I departed was uh to choose a new superintendent who is still serving. So you know I have a good antenna for this sort of work. Um I
worked for the New Jersey School Boards Association for about seven years I think it was. Um and as a field service rep working mostly in northern northwestern New Jersey. Um, I did an awful lot of things, but superintendent
searches really were my favorite thing. Um, what's nice about hanging out my own shingle and making my own schedule and having a real nice work life balance is that I can prioritize what type of work I'd like to do. And as a result, um, I'm
very happy to say that my firm has become, uh, one of the most prolific providers of superintendent searches in Northern New Jersey and Central New Jersey. So, it's exciting work. It's good work. I'm very active in the field and I'm really pleased that that brings
me to Glenrock tonight. So, thank you. >> Thank you so much. All right, we'll start with Joe. >> Thank you very much. My first question is what is your strategy for identifying
and attracting high quality candidates uh in this competitive market here? The second part is how do you plan to reach out to passive candidate who are not actively looking for job? >> Oh sure that's what I do actually and
that is really a fun part of this work. Um I am pleased to say that I have a lot of really strong relationships in the field um with other administrators with successful superintendent. Um you may
know Matt Lee, your former school boards member uh uh field service representative. He is a a good friend of mine. We're in very close contact. Um, also my last couple of years in the school boards association, I was a senior manager of the field services
department, which is statewide. So, I had a real finger on what districts are successful um what districts are kind of suboptimal. Um, also as a board member um and as a field service rep, I helped boards do hundreds of superintendent
evaluations. Um, so I saw that from a board member's perspective about what makes a successful superintendent or a suboptimal superintendent. Um, so with all of that knowledge, I'm able to identify folks um that I would like to
see in my searches. Um, I don't put forward on my short list anyone that I'm not proud to present to you. Um and I do that by learn you know going by their reputation in the field. I reach out to
my colleagues. I say okay um I have Glenrock who would be good for this and why? Um and you I think you did mention uh folks who are not actively looking and I am able to do that and that is
through my work with my colleagues in the field. Um, when I get to know more of what you're of what you want because every district is district different, I can target a candidate who's strong in those areas and I can also keep my eyes
out for candidates who are weak in those areas, who may apply, who may look good on paper, um, but probably aren't worthy of the board's consideration. Thank you. >> Hi, welcome.
How large is your typical candidates pool? How do you ensure both quality and diversity in your recruitment and what differentiates your firm's network from other search firms operating in New Jersey? >> Oh, that's a great question. So to
answer it's I know it's a multi-prong question. So the first portion of that is what's my typical what uh typical candidate pool? So I serve all different kinds of districts, really small ones, very large ones, rural ones, urban ones,
suburban ones, and that makes a difference um in how many folks apply for a particular search. So there's, if I were to give you like an average, it may not be um I don't want to say an authentic answer for what you're looking
for. What I can tell you is um interestingly enough uh prek to8s draw the most candidates. We're talking like 50 60 candidates in those because a lot of I don't mean to sound flippant but everyone thinks they can lead a prek to
8 district. A prek to 12 district is a little more um you know intimidating perhaps for candidates. So, you know, so you're going to have a smaller candidate pool than perhaps a neighboring district that's preday that um and that's not a
reflection on the district. It's just a reflection on the configuration. So, if I had to guess, I don't have a crystal ball, but um look, thinking about my recent prek to 12elves um and the
difference I think you'd probably get, and it may sound low, but I think you'll probably get in the 30s. That's what I I think that would be a healthy pool. Now, um I'm not sure how many of them would be quality candidates, but you would certainly, you know, every pool, every
candidate pool size that I've worked with, um I've been able to bring a short list of very attractive candidates to the board and that's because of the recruiting, you know, honestly, it really is. So, and the advertising. Um
so, having focused on that section of your question, what were the the other sections? The other section was, "And what differentiates you from other search firms operating in New Jersey?" >> Oh, well, I'm going to be direct. I was a former
school board member. Um, I've worked in board governance, you know, as part of, you know, advocating for best practices for boards of education for a long time. And I see things through a board member's eyes.
Um I I am very pleased that candidates uh and I've and I I'm only one candidate gets the job in every search that I do. So there are very good, excellent, high
quality candidates who get left on the cutting room floor just by virtue of the fact that you can only hire one person. And I'm very pleased that those candidates feel very comfortable working with me. um they know that they get a fair shot that I don't have any
allegiances. You know, I'm not like coming from another district where all my people are from or this or that. Sometimes that's a perception. Um and that may be true or may not be, but I don't have that baggage at all, you know. So, I am I work for the boards and
my candidates know that and my boards know that. So, thank you for that question. How do you ensure confidentiality for sitting superintendents who may apply? >> Oh, that's Well, you may have seen my contract or maybe you haven't. It's all
legal ease, but there is a I I've actually added a section to address confidentiality to my contract. That's how strongly I feel about it. So um not to sound too direct but uh basically if I can if I if there's a breach in
confidentiality I will come after you. My firm will come after you and I have each of the participating board members sign an acknowledgement of confidentiality before I release any candidate information to you. Um, beyond
that, uh, the process once we start to meet the candidates and get into who's who and who's actually in the pool, that's a very airtight process on our end. Only the board is involved in interviews and the searches that I
facilitate. We do not do premature reference checks because I don't want to jeopardize a candidates's re good relation with their employer or board. Um what we want really in your pool are people who are successful and secure in
their positions. So um in order to attract those candidates, we need to ensure them that confidentiality is a focus of ours. And I've always made a big deal about that. Um, my clients can
tell you, my candidates can tell you. So, thanks for asking that question. It is an important one. There is I I tell my boards there's nothing that will derail a search faster than a leak. Now, if candidates tell their colleagues or friends that they are in a search, they
have the ability to do that. That's fine. I'm sure when you apply for a job, you tell your spouse and your family and all that. Wish me luck. That's okay. But we don't do that at all. And that's with internal and external candidates, any of them. >> Okay. Um, what is your understanding of
Glenrock public schools strengths and challenges and what leadership qualities do you believe are most important for a superintendent in a high performing district like Glenrock? >> You are a high performing and you're a high performing prek to 12 district. So,
um I think honestly one of the most important things for any superintendency and so that makes no difference here in Glenrock that just as it would when Little Stillwater is the fit between the board and the superintendent. Board
superintendent relationships are of capital importance. If you don't have that and if we have someone who cannot demonstrate that then I would be very worried and I would not recommend that
candidate to you um because that's super important. Um but that is for every district. For Glenrock um you are a very I I think it's it's fair for me to say that you are a high expectations and
high performing district. I think you offer your students a wonderful experience. You havemies here. Um, you know, you do have diversity here which makes it exciting for uh candidates in the field. So, I like those an awful
lot. And just by being in Bergen County, Bergen is really a destination county for a lot of candidates that I work with because the expectations are so high because parents are so involved in making sure that their kids succeed and that's a team effort, right? And that
pays off in your student achievement data as well. So that's really good. I think what is challenging for uh for your district in particular and uh it's it's not I've I've served other
districts that have been in this is that there has been turnover at the top um and ideally candidates and boards want stability. I think your community wants stability. I'm sure your staff wants stability as well. Um so finding someone
who can demonstrate a the right fit, right? and they should have experience with uh similar socioeconomic population as you. Um they and also the level of parental and community involvement that's here. They should have a history
of you know working under those conditions. Um but you know finding someone who's going to stay is is really probably your biggest
your biggest challenge. And I don't mean um that it's impossible or it's very very difficult. Uh there are certain things that I look for uh right away if I I I value stability in candidates's employment history. Um if someone has
been hopping around as an administrator and hasn't made tenure anywhere or hasn't lived beyond one superintendent contract wherever they go, then that's a yellow light for me. Thank you. Okay.
>> How do you incorporate community input into the development of your candidate profile? >> Oh, right away. Right away. So, there's and and I think that this is typical of a lot of searches, but most people enjoy having an online survey, right? So, we
certainly offer that comes from my platform. So, it's confident. It's confidential. everyone um who participates is assured that their responses are anonymous. Um I also like to come into the district and do a
series of in-person input sessions. And those input sessions are conversational. It's not just me standing up and telling folks the process, although that is part of the evening or the afternoon, but I
ask a series of of open-ended questions and uh whatever your folks tell me, I transcribe verbatim and all of those results go into a report for the board. Um, now the different stakeholder groups
I would imagine in Glenrock we'd probably be speaking to your students, probably your high school students, middle school students maybe, um, your parents, your community members, certainly your administrators, your faculty, your staff. If there are other groups that you need me to speak to, we
can certainly do that as well. Um but all of those results and the results of the survey and the survey is nice because um just like with the input sessions, it's the same questions but we can differentiate what teachers are saying, what administrators are saying,
what families are saying. Um and the report will go by percentages about what the top responses are for the closedended questions. although every question has an other so people can make any question open-ended. Um what the top
percentages are overall of what your uh stakeholders are looking for and also what the commonalities and differences are between the different stakeholder groups. So what are teachers saying that parents are not? What are administrators
saying that teachers are not saying? What are teachers and administrators both saying at simultaneously? what are all groups saying simultaneously and how frequently? So, that's a pretty great report. And um it sounds like a lot of
data and it kind of is, but it's broken down in charts and graphs and it's very digestible. It's a it and I also want I do request very strongly that boards keep that confidential throughout the process because if you publicize it
then all of a sudden all the candidates sound alike in the interviews because they know what your what your strengths and challenges are and I'd rather have a more organic experience, right? I'd rather be able to identify someone um from the outright rather them telling me, you know, that they're good at this
or that because, you know, I'll say that. Um and the last page of that report is a candidate profile that I write. It's a draft candidate profile that's based on what I found out from
the input sessions, what I found out from the survey, and what I know from the board. and then we go over that together to make sure that it's either good or it needs some kind of adjustment and that guides us throughout this the search. Um I don't use a question bank.
So although there's certainly areas that you want to ask all of your candidates certainly about curriculum and you know preparing your students for success after high school, what a healthy prek program looks like, all of that stuff, but we want to tailor them to the
district and the district's needs. So a curriculum question here would probably look different than a curriculum question in Rumson Fair Haven and that's what that input report helps us to identify. It's invaluable. Um so and all
of that comes from your stakeholders. So thank you for the question. >> Thank you. >> What vetting processes do you use beyond résumés and references and how do you identify potential red flags before presenting candidates to the board?
Oh, I can I would say reputation and data. Reputation and data. So folks have a certain reputation in the field. It's not a big world. It's kind of a small world to be honest with you. So that certainly informs, you know, what you're
looking at. Um but also, you know, student achievement, the New Jersey school report performance reports gives a lot of data. the district's website. Um, you know, certainly a thorough internet search, right? All of
that will help us. Um, red flags, uh, luck, you know, a lot of that comes down to reputation. A lot of that comes down, there are some, like I mentioned, instability that you can detect from a resume, right? Um, also I do a
preliminary interview with each candidate and you'd be surprised what candidates say. So, and I remember everything. So, you know, and I am very direct with you. I I would work for you just like I work for every client, right, that I take on. Um, so you'll
know everything that I unearth about these folks. I take it very seriously. I have never facilitated a search where the superintendent did not work out. um you know, we've never had to like reopen a search because in you know, a few
months they're gone. No. And and there's a reason for that because they're vetted very carefully. So, thank you for the for the question. >> Thank you. >> Hi. Hi. Welcome. How many finalists do you typically
present to a board and how do you help boards evaluate cultural and governance fit? Okay. So, I don't have a hard and fast number, right? And it certainly depends on the talent that's in your pool. You
will, as I mentioned before, I think see everyone who has applied regardless of the quality of the candidates or not. You'll see you'll see their cover letter, their resume, their last two performance evaluations. And we may ask for additional artifacts, right, from them. And you'll see all of that. You'll
also have a report from me that lists their pluses and minuses, how they meet your criteria, and a summary of the preliminary interview that I conduct on all of them. Now, as far as determining what their cultural or governance
strengths are or weaknesses, I think a lot of that, if not all of it, is determined by their past history. is determined by their f I mean you know it's sounds like a simple answer but I think that's the best answer
>> I think hi >> how do you ensure the search process remains legally compliant in New Jersey and what transition support you provide after the superintendent is hired >> oh okay well I've done you know over 40 of these so the process is legally compliant I also um will work with your
board attorney as needed. Um, for instance, one interesting wrinkle for my recent search is that in June, uh, legislation was passed that states that you have to put in your advertisement now a salary range and information about
compensation and benefits. So, I work with your attorney to make sure that that language fits, you know, their interpretation of the law is just one of those examples. Um, and when the search is over, um, yes, I'm still with you. Part of your package, if you choose to
use it, it's optional. I don't hound you for it, but is for me to come in and do a transition workshop with you. And in those transition workshops, we talk about communication norms because I cannot overemphasize the importance of communication.
Miscommunication is the cause of I'm going to say most of the problems in the world. Certainly when it comes to governance, right? Um goal setting as well and any other areas that the board would like to address,
but communication norms, uh meeting norms, board norms, you know, operating procedures for, you know, your regular uh interaction with the with the board and the superintendent and goals are very important and I'm very pleased to do that. I just I just finished one of
those actually in another district last week. So, it's good. Yeah. Thank you. >> Hi. >> Hello. >> What guarantee or follow-up support do you provide if a superintendent leaves
early? And given that we're starting in April with a 90-day notice requirement, typical on a lot of superintendent, how do you see the timeline working to have a new superintendent in place by August 31st?
>> Okay. So, um I I will be with you until as your search consultant until you have successfully negotiated a contract that has been approved by the executive county
superintendent. If at any point in the process before then the board is not satisfied with the quality of the candidates or candidate if you're down to a finalist and negotiations fall apart I am still your
search consultant and we will reopen the search if we need to and that is fine no matter if we do it that year or if you pause hit the pause button for a year and we start up again you'll have an interim in place I'm still your person,
right? Um, after you hire your superintendent, then I think everything's going to be really good. I don't offer that kind of guarantee. Um, because frankly, I'm not the decision maker. Really, you guys are, but I help you get there. And I have I am happy to
say that in every single search that I've facilitated, that's never been an issue. They all stay. Most of them for more than one contract. most of them have been offered a a reopen of their contract or a second contract and they say which is lovely. Um and I think there was a second part to that question
about your timeline, right? You said August 31st if I heard correctly. >> Yes. You know basically given that most superintendents have 120day notice or 90day notice. >> I'm seeing more and more of those 120 180s. Right. So I can say at the outset
my firm philosophy and uh and I hope that this is yours too. I think it would be because I know you understand the gravity of this choice is that the most important thing is the person not the timeline. Finding the right person. So if we need to stretch out the process we
do that. If we need to truncate it we can do that too. But most typically it involves a lengthening of the process for issues just like what you've alluded to uh longer notice in their contract to their own boards of education. Right. So
if we're talk but 90 days I will say currently that is the most frequent uh notice period that I see. I it's not the only but it is the most frequent. Um, so if we're talking about the end of August
and we have to do negotiations, which are taking a little bit longer than I'd like to be quite frank, um, and the county, which is efficient at approving contracts, but we can't really breathe down their neck, give them a little, um, I would say that you can do it, um, but
you really do need to put your the pedal to the metal. Um it would involve likely interviews throughout the month of May. Um and that might mean, you know, coming out on a Friday or a Saturday, which candidates are very
willing to do, but with a compressed timeline like that, that's the sort of I think we'd aim to get interviews done during May. And if a Saturday sounds unpalatable, um I've worked very
successfully with boards who have done all of their interviews on Saturdays. And what's kind of nice about that is it's one meeting rather than three nights of meetings. So could be a good option uh for everybody, but it depends on the district that I'm working for. Um
that's what I would aim for. But conversely, if you really do feel like uh we've got to um you know, because that involves like doing the ad first, getting the input sessions done while the ad is running, you know, um if you
wanted to take a little bit more time, then that could be done, too. You know, I I think you'd be working in the summertime, but it's really, you know, we're looking for a long-term fit. So if you have to add a month or two on the
front end, you know, then that's okay. But thanks for the question. >> Thank you. >> Um one one of the other like we tried to make sure that we asked all of the same questions. So even whether it applies or not, um one of the questions was also um
is is this your full-time job? And you actually led with that at the beginning. So I do not believe this question is applicable to you about how you would balance your responsibilities with um running our search. Um the final question is really just kind of a
closure and it's um is there a comment that you want to leave with us or are there any questions that you have of us? >> Uh I'll lead with the comment if that's okay. Um, I love to do this work
because at the end of the day, and I'll bet that's why this is why you're all sitting at this table at this day, is because it makes a huge difference in the lives of your students as far as who
is leading your district. That is very gratifying work for me and I have the extra bonus of working with people who are like myself who took up
the baton of a very important type and unique type of volunteer service which is of an elected board member. So I see things through your eyes. I value your service tremendously because I've done
it myself and I think it's so important that I've did that now I make my living assisting people doing what you do and the most important thing I'm sure veterans have heard this a million times that a board does is selected
superintendent. So that really is when I say that it's my honor to help my clients. It really is. This is kind of a calling for me and for you. So, the fact that you're taking the time to do this whether you wanted to or not, but you
know that you're here and you've got to do right by your kids and if you have to undertake a really difficult process that involves a lot of time away from your families, you're up for doing that. And so am I. And so am I. And I never
forget the reason why you're here. Never. So, thank you for allowing me to articulate that very clearly. Um, I appreciate that. And I would also say, um, don't just take my word for it. Talk
to my references. Um, you know, you could also, uh, kind of, you know, peek at the districts that I'm working with now. If you look at the Branchburg district, we're just about finished there, but they have a nice website. Hardest in I'm working with now. One of the first
things I do with my districts is we establish a website, a page on the website that walks the community through what steps we're taking. Um, and that might be illustrative, too. But speaking directly to the folks that I've worked with, whether I listed them in my packet
as references with their phone numbers or not, I would urge you to do that because it's always been a great experience. And at the end of the process, it has turned out to be the best professional development that a board can undertake and it unites the
team amongst itself and with the superintendent and the community is pretty proud of that. So, thank you. Um my question for you is uh is there anything that you know you are expecting
from the superintendent search that's either on the positive side or the trepidacious side um as you begin this process. Just kind of curious. Um well, you know, like like you mentioned, u a lot of our conversations really center
about how important this this is. Uh anytime that anyone approaches us in the community, they also um you know deliver that importance to us. Um so making sure that the person is the right fit um at the right time that we are making sure
that we are like kind of leaving no stone unturned uh just to make sure that we are confident in our decision and that the community also believes in in in the person that we have selected because they've been involved in the process. So making sure that we have that stakeholder involvement from the
you know teachers to the um you know our administration, our parents, our community members that may not have children in the school districts and things like that. Um so you know that >> the the trepidation that we may have is that somehow people feel left out of the
process um and that we haven't been able to get the stakeholder invol involvement. Um but uh I guess that you know hopefully that answers a bit of the question but I think that centers um pretty heavily on many of the conversations that this board has had with regards to um you
know like the timeline um the right person and uh community involvement. >> Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. Um and so you may need a little bit of extra time at the front end to make sure that you have as many sessions as you need. Um,
but we can talk about that if I certainly if you hire me, I absolutely encourage you to talk about that self with whomever you go forward to with what that would actually look like. It's different in every district, right? It's different in every district. Um, so
thanks for sharing that. Um, one of the things that I have noticed in doing my input sessions is I just did one uh actually a couple of nights ago in Northern Highlands is the participants
feel a real sense of comfort in talking to the person who's leading your search and seeing what a robust process it is and how much work it is. You know, sometimes people say they really don't know. they just think it's an interview or two. And um once you put in front of
them not just asking them what they're looking for and what their community is looking for, but what the board's going to be doing, it really does smooth a lot of of trouble troubled souls. Not to sound melodramatic, but I've seen it happen. It does.
>> That's wonderful. Thank you. It is what we're looking forward to. So, thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you very much for your time. >> All right. Well, have a wonderful night and thank you for being here so late in the evening and which uh short notice. So, thank you. >> It's and I'm not going to sugarcoat it.
You'll be here late and I would be here right with you throughout the process, but it's such rewarding work that I would look forward to it. So, thank you very much. >> Thanks for coming in everybody. All right. All right. Um, so it is 8:39 p.m. Um,
and I would like to have an uh public comments on our agenda items only. Um, if you're any members of the public that want to uh say their name, their address, and you have three minutes to talk and seeing no members of the public
here, um we'll also close um our public comment session at 8:40. All right. All right. Um so, you know, I I think that this was really an encouraging process. I'm um thrilled and excited that three um wonderful firms I
mean there were so many um and I think that the three that we chose to have a interview were just um really great and offered us a lot to to think about um and so I think that you know it's incumbent upon us to do some a little bit more follow through as well and um I
have some additional questions that I need to go and and search on I know you all may have the same um and then uh additional you know, information will come to you with regards to what the next steps are. All right. So, thank you so much for coming, you know, late and
um sticking through this process. So, thank you. All right. So, uh need a motion to Oh, sure. >> Uh so, so yes, um we can do that. Um we're obviously going to do that. Um but I would say I let me follow up with you
directly or not even just you but like all of you on in terms of like where where we're going to go. Um in addition to you know calling references and things like that um or even following through like Miss Helvis said like looking at their websites going through um looking at some of the products like
what uh what school districts what did it look like? I you know like I think we all want to know those kinds of things um additionally. Um, so with that, I'll follow up um with the board and and everyone will know within the next couple of days kind of like what to
expect. Okay. All right. Um, so I just need a motion um that the special meeting of March 12th be adjourned. All right. Um, we have Dan Corey, seconded by Liz Chavez at
8:41. Um, all those in favor? I any opposed? All right, we are adjourned.