Twenty-four people apply to be Stonington's next superintendent of schools
Stonington — The school system has announced that 24 people have applied to be the district's new superintendent of schools.
The candidates come from 10 different states, with the majority from New England, New York and New Jersey, according to the announcement. One candidate is from within the school system.
The school board is seeking a new superintendent to replace Van Riley, who will retire at the end of the current school year after leading the district for the past nine years. The board hopes to choose a new superintendent by April 1, with that person beginning work July 1. The job currently pays more than $200,000 annually.
In addition, the board has slightly delayed the hiring of a new high school principal to replace Mark Friese, who is resigning July 1, until after the hiring of the new superintendent. This will allow the new superintendent to offer input on the hiring of the new principal. Riley, though, will make the final decision on who is hired.
The school board is now using a candidate profile that details the characteristics, skills, knowledge and experience the town wants in its new superintendent to screen the candidates and eventually select the person it wants to hire. The profile was developed with input from 275 people who participated in forums and surveys. The profile can be found on the school district's website, stoningtonschools.org.
The school board hired Elizabeth Osga, a consultant with the New England School Development Council, to develop the candidate profile and help with the hiring process. She is a former assistant superintendent of schools in Stonington and was the 2011 Connecticut superintendent of the year while leading the Lyme-Old Lyme district.
School board Chairman Farouk Rajab explained Tuesday that the superintendent selection committee, which is composed of all seven school board members, has had online access to each candidate's resume, recommendation letters, credentials and other information. Each committee member is now ranking their top candidates based on their review of that information and how it meets the candidate profile. On Wednesday, the committee members will meet to discuss their rankings and choose five to seven candidates to interview next week.
After those interviews, the committee will choose two to three candidates to be interviewed a second and final time.
Rajab said the discussion now among committee members is whether to conduct the second interviews in public. The board then will select a new superintendent.
What the board is looking for
The candidate profile states the school board is seeking a superintendent who develops trusted and valued relationships with all stakeholders in the school system, has substantial experience in teaching and instructional leadership, communicates well and "communicates a vision for the district that is forward-thinking, inclusive and attainable."
In addition to the two-page list of ideal characteristics, there is also a list of six "pressing tasks and challenges" for the new superintendent.
They include leading the district as it recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic; ensuring that high-quality staff are recruited, developed and retained; working as one with the entire community; providing stakeholders in the school system with accurate, timely and informative messages using a variety of media platforms and starting "a new narrative" about the school system's finances.
"Questions about transparency, prudence, adequacy and frugality have strained relationships between the District, the Board of Selectmen, the Board of Finance and community members," the list states.
The sixth challenge is to build trust in the school system in the district and community. It states that while the pandemic may have strained trust and relationships, "there clearly were underlying prior tensions" that can be traced back to the controversy over how school officials handled the numerous allegations of sexual harassment against former high school teacher and coach Tim Chokas as well as the "ongoing perceptions" that the district has not been as transparent as it needs to be, particularly when it comes to its financial management.
Members of the Board of Finance have particularly criticized school officials in the past for not being transparent about district finances, purchasing a piece of heavy equipment the finance board did not fund and refusing at times to meet to answer questions.
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