What does the Cumberland County community want to see in a new school superintendent?
Transparency, experience as a teacher and administrator in a school system with similar enrollment and a knowledge of public education, finance, operations and facilities are among the qualities residents believe to be important for a new superintendent.
That’s based on feedback from surveys and meetings hosted by McPherson & Jacobson LLC, a Nebraska-based educational consulting firm working with the Cumberland County Schools to hire a new leader of the school district.
Marvin Connelly, the superintendent since 2018, is retiring effective June 30.
Two representatives of the consulting firm visited Cumberland County in March to get an idea of the qualities, talents, experience and personality traits that community members believe are important in a new leader.
The firm used K-12 Insight, an online survey that was open to the public, students and educators to glean information about areas of expertise, skills and characteristics, according to Barry Carroll of the consulting firm. There were 528 responses.
“We’re reporting what the stakeholders said. These are not our words,” said Carroll, who appeared via video.
The survey included a list of expertise for each superintendent candidate and the order of importance to be considered by the Board of Education. Responses were based on four categories: “very important,” “important,” “somewhat important” and “not important.”
Knowledge of public education, finance, operations and facilities ranked the highest with a total of 92% of respondents saying that was very important or important.
Experience as a teacher ranked second-highest with 89% of respondents putting it in the top two categories of importance. The understanding of the “dynamic and culture of our district” was a close third, with 87% putting it in the important categories.
Survey participants were also asked to rank the quality of aspects of the school district. The answer categories included “excellent,” “good,” “fair” and “poor.” Most answers fell into the fair category.
The relationship between the school district and local organizations was ranked good by 36%. Transparency was ranked poor as a district aspect, with fiscal management getting a poor rating of 22%.
When asked which abilities, skills and characteristics are needed, respondents said building authentic relationships with staff, students and families; first-hand knowledge of current challenges; being an advocate for teacher voice, morale and mental health; communication and listening skills; and empathy, equity and cultural competence; and strategic and student-centered decision making.
Debra White, another McPherson & Jacobs consultant, presented feedback she gathered during a series of community meetings in March. Those attending and who chose to speak were asked to consider the great things about the Fayetteville-Cumberland County community and the school district. Among the responses was the major influence of Fort Bragg and the number of veterans in the community, the diversity and downtown development.
When asked about the significant challenges facing a new superintendent, the responses included parent accountability; communication with parents and the community; a top-heavy structure in the district that leads to a higher concentration of administrators; student behavior and discipline; leadership and district accountability; and school safety.
The search for a new superintendent continues and the application deadline is Thursday, April 10, Carroll said.
“We’ve had a tremendous number of applicants,” he said.
After the deadline, the search firm will go through the applications and select candidates for the Board of Education to interview.
