INVOLVE PUBLIC IN CHOICE FOR SCHOOL CHIEF

The search is on. Applications for a new superintendent of schools for Cape Girardeau are being accepted through Nov. 12. Board members hope to make a choice by December so the new leader can work with Dan Tallent before he retires June 30.

The Missouri School Board Association is assisting the local board in selecting a new leader. Public feedback to the MSBA surveys has been minimal, to say the least -- 19 people interviewed, 39 surveys collected, 68 responses to a weeklong hotline call-in, for a total of 126 opinions out of a town of 35,000-plus.

With that limited response, the MSBA has ascertained that these are the top qualities the community wants to see in a new superintendent: strong fiscal management and curriculum development skills.

The MSBA's assistance will cost the district in the neighborhood of $5,000. It charges 5 percent of the new superintendent's salary and travel expenses.

One has to wonder about spending district resources on this kind of advice. The qualities identified by the MSBA basically are the same kind of qualities desirable in any leader.

The MSBA will also help review applications. This is something the school board should take the lead on. It knows our community better than anyone. And that's what we elected them -- not the MSBA -- to do.

The school board has indicated it will likely bring in the three to five finalists to town for everyone to meet. That would be worth the time and effort. That's the same way that Southeast Missouri State University and the city of Cape Girardeau handled their leadership searches. A face-to-face meeting is the best way to judge applicants. These meetings should be set up in the evening when parents and other concerned citizens can attend.

Things have run pretty smoothly in the Cape Girardeau schools for the past few years. People don't have strong feelings about a new leader. That wouldn't be the case if people weren't satisfied with the job of the current superintendent or the school board.

This apparent lack of interest should also send a strong message to the board: Let Tallent assist in the selection of his successor. He knows a lot more about the needs of the district and the community than out-of-town folks. Teachers and staff should also be involved in the process.

People care about a new superintendent. They elected the school board to lead. The local board should pick the finalists, schedule the in-town interviews and then make a choice.

Leadership: That's what Cape Girardeau wants in a school board and a new superintendent.