Cape school officials meet next week to choose new superintendent

With Cape Girardeau burning through four superintendents in 11 years, parents have consistently said they want the next leader to be someone who will stick around.

They had a chance in November to voice their opinions about the ideal candidate. Since then, the public has had limited involvement in the process.

The board conducted three interviews in closed session last week. The board is expected to finish checking references in the next few days and decide in closed session who will receive a contract. The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday.

In the past, the board has announced who is being considered. Finalists were named during the last superintendent search, in December 2004, which resulted in Dr. David Scala's hiring. Dan Steska was hired after meeting administrators, visiting schools and attending a public forum in 1998. He publicly recommended his replacement, assistant superintendent Mark Bowles, in 2002.

Despite parents' earlier calls for transparency, the public seems mostly accepting of the board's decision to protect candidates' confidentiality this time.

"I'm comfortable with the school board handling it in a closed session. I think that's what we elected them for. They are the ones that should do it," said Doug Austin.

Nancy Jernigan said the public needs to trust the board. "I feel that whatever decision they make is one we should support and not question whether we should be involved or not," she said.

Board president Dr. Steve Trautwein said public interviews tend to discourage people from applying, because candidates not chosen could experience discord returning to their home district.

Confidentiality is also why board members will not be traveling to candidates' home districts to see the superintendents in action, something parents strongly suggested at the November forum.

The "inevitable fallout from a site visit often places the candidate in an unfavorable and embarrassing situation if not ultimately selected for the job," Trautwein wrote in an e-mail Wednesday.

He said site visits are often arranged by the superintendent and therefore do not necessarily provide information that couldn't be acquired through "well-placed and thoughtful" phone calls.

Although potentially unbiased people to interview could be found through Internet searches, "the slight increase in the potential value of the information thus derived rarely justifies the expense of money and personal time that site visits often require," he wrote.

He said members will ask references to provide names of other people in the district to contact via phone.

Although the board may make a decision on a candidate Wednesday, the board has 72 hours to announce its decision.

lbavolek@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123