Wish list given for next Perry County superintendent

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- A superintendent with an open-door policy who's honest, personable and has the district's best interest at heart was described during an open forum Tuesday at the Perry County School District, as teachers and Perryville residents told a search consultant what qualities they would like to see in the district's next superintendent.

Jerry Waddle, a search consultant for the Missouri School Boards' Association, conducted two focus-group discussions, where he described the search process and asked for opinions.

Turnout for the forums was lower than expected, he said, with about 45 staff members attending the first meeting and 10 community members, parents and teachers attending the second. Those in attendance, however, were quick to give input and describe what they see as important leadership skills for a superintendent to have.

The search began after superintendent Scott Ireland submitted his resignation to the board last month, with his last day set for the end of his contract June 30. The board accepted Ireland's resignation and voted to have MSBA conduct the search.

During the forum, Waddle told the audience MSBA is not there to select the next superintendent but to help guide the school board in its search. The position was posted last week, he said, and about 20 people have shown interest so far. But not all of those will apply, he said.

Waddle will review the applications, call references, conduct background research and make recommendations to the board as to who are the strongest applicants and who are the weakest candidates. The board then will select which candidates to interview, and Waddle will arrange the interviews, which will be conducted by the board. The board then will make the final selection.

Lee Gattis, who served as Perryville High School's principal for seven years before retiring two years ago, said he has a "great deal of confidence" in Waddle leading the search.

"He'll make certain there are no steps missed in this," Gattis said. "He brings a high level of expertise to this whole process, so I feel very good about it."

As for what he'd like to see in the next superintendent, Gattis said the person needs to be someone who will look at retaining and stabilizing staff.

"We've had a number of teachers leave who I considered to be high-level teachers and top-notch people," he said. "I can't speak as to what was wrong. I just know that we need to work hard to retain quality staff."

Janice Herring, a special-education teacher, said the next superintendent needs to be good at building morale.

"Ours has suffered in the last two years," said Herring, who has been with the district for 15 years.

Others said a superintendent should have strong goals and visions for the district, rally community support and be a person of good character. That person also should be trusted by the school board to make important decisions, they said.

Waddle took notes during the forums and will provide the board with a report. He also encouraged those in attendance to let others know about a survey on the school district's website, which will be available through Tuesday. The survey asks the participant to rank leadership traits they think are important and also provides a comment section.

The results of the survey will be summarized and won't include the participants' names, he said, and a report will be given to the board.

The deadline for superintendent applications is Nov. 30, and interviews will be conducted Dec. 8 through 21. District officials hope to fill the position by Jan. 8, with duties beginning July 1.

klamb@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3639

Pertinent address:

326 College St., Perryville, Mo.