Distrusting the Process

East parent Bonnie Maddox sent an email to 25 other parents on Tuesday expressing concern over the district’s process in hiring Dr. Scott Sherman as East’s head principal for the 2018-19 school year.

Sherman, the current head principal of Indian Hills Middle School, was appointed as East’s head principal after it was announced that current Head Principal John McKinney would be taking the job of SMSD director of family services for the next school year.

In the email, Maddox explained that her sister, associate principal Susan Leonard, was not given the chance to interview for the position of head principal despite her experience with the school and qualifications, such as her PhD. Leonard declined an interview.

While Maddox says she has great respect for Sherman and would have no issues if he had been hired after an open application process, she is concerned that the district is not providing all administrators the opportunity for advancement within the district.

“I think we should have an open process where when there’s a position available, at the very least the people within our district who are interested in the job [should] get the opportunity to apply,” Maddox said. “. . . there should be an interview process for the people that are interested.”

According to Director of Secondary Services Joe Gilhaus, who is responsible for overseeing the high schools in the district, the district chooses whether or not to post about an open position or to make an administrative transfer based on the needs and culture of the building, as well as the best internal fit and time of year.

“Sometimes the most powerful thing we have instead of an hour and a half interview or a two hour interview . . . is seeing someone’s work on a daily basis for a number of years,” Gilhaus said. “When you talk about Dr. Sherman — somebody who’s been in the district for 30 years, has taught in the high school, is a Shawnee Mission graduate, has been a counselor at the high school, administrator, principal of the middle school — he’s just does an outstanding job for the longevity of his career.”

Gilhaus declined to discuss the specific process that went into transferring Sherman and deferred to Shawna Samuel, the director of communications, who said members of the Leadership and Learning team led the process to find a replacement for McKinney. The team typically decides to do an internal transfer when a candidate has already distinguished themselves as the “best fit” for the position, as well as considering the current phase of the “recruiting season,” according to Samuel.

In addition, Maddox believes the district should be more transparent about their hiring process. According to a document Maddox received from the district, there’s not a written policy for how to hire administrators, though there are guidelines for hiring teachers and coaches. Maddox feels the district should have clear guidelines for hiring administrators that the community has access to.

While the hiring process of administrators does not need to follow the same NEA guidelines as teachers and coaches, the district follows a procedure from their Administrator’s Personnel Manual, Samuel said.

According to Maddox, the general public did not know that the position was open until it had already been filled by Sherman.

Maddox is calling for parents to contact the district and email board members to express that they are not happy with the district’s administrative hiring process. A group of parents will be attending the next school board meeting April 23 to discuss this issue, and a larger group intends on writing letters to the board to express their concern over the administrative hiring process.

“I would like to see the district develop a process for how they hire so that the community understands what they’re doing,” Maddox said. “I think this was very much sprung on our community. It’s done in the dark and no one really knows what the process is. I think that can be dangerous for our school district.”