Waterford — Someone who keeps up with the state legislature, has classroom experience and will connect with the community — these are some of the qualities Waterford Public Schools staff members said they are looking for in a new superintendent of schools Tuesday.

The three staff members shared their thoughts as part of a meeting with the New England School Development Council, which is facilitating the search for a successor to Superintendent Jerome Belair, who ends his tenure with the district at the end of June.

Drs. Carolyn Burke and Joseph Wood, search consultants with the development council, explained during the meeting that those in attendance had the option to remain anonymous. The staff who attended declined to state their names or positions.

Board of Education Chairwoman Jody Nazarchyk said she hopes the board will be able to announce its selection for interim superintendent by the board’s May 28 meeting. An interim superintendent is slated to begin July 1 and will stay on with the district until a permanent replacement is found, she said.

She said the aim of the board is to select a superintendent by July 31, with an expected start date by Oct. 31. The development council is not involved in the interim superintendent search, according to Nazarchyk.

Burke said development council's goal would be to weave input from meetings and submitted in writing into a profile of what a good fit for superintendent in Waterford would look like. Results are to be presented by theme and by type of respondent — for example: teacher, parent, student — to the board at a later date.

The council will also conduct a background search on finalists for the position. Nazarchyk said the board asked the council to check the application for plagiarism as part of the background check, a request she said the board made to prevent a situation such as when Terrence Carter, a candidate for superintendent of New London Public Schools, apparently plagiarized material in his application.

“We just want to make sure that we get the right and honest candidate,” said Nazarchyk.

The development council held an additional meeting Tuesday for parents, students and other members of the general public. The agency is holding a meeting for school staff Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. in the library of Waterford High School and another general public meeting at 7 p.m. at Town Hall. Burke said the 2:30 meeting is to include administrators.

t.townsend@theday.com

Twitter: @ConnecticuTess