SMSD searches for new superintendent after current superintendent retires

The Shawnee Mission School District Board of Education began the search for an internal superintendent hire following current superintendent Dr. Mike Fulton’s retirement announcement, effective June 30, who served in the position for three years.

According to the BOE’s Chief Communications Officer David Smith, the Board does not have a specific timeline established for the hiring process, but will have a new superintendent in place by July 1.

The Board held an emergency meeting on Jan. 4 to inform the public that slight wording changes have been made to the superintendent’s position description and that all applications for qualified internal applicants will be due on Jan. 19. This means superintendent position will only be available to current SMSD employees — a change from the last superintendent job search which invited all applicants, including those who had not previously worked in the district, such as Fulton.

According to a statement released by BOE President Heather Ousley and Vice-President Dr. Mary Sinclair regarding why they opted to hire internally, the Board feels confident they have qualified internal candidates to serve as the next superintendent.

“The Board is seeking an experienced leader who appreciates our community and is committed to our District,” Ousley and Sinclair wrote in the statement. “The Board believes this decision will provide continuity for the work currently being done, as well as stability moving forward, and is consistent with our commitment to providing advancement opportunities for our talented staff.”

However, East teacher and National Education Association-Shawnee Mission building representative Monique Goodeyon believes hiring an internal candidate will stunt the district’s ability to move forward with original ideas and elements, such as diversity, that outside hires would introduce.

“Dr. Fulton did not bring very many new district administrators in, so almost every district administrator that’s going to apply for this job was actually a [former Superintendent Jim] Hinson [hire],” Goodeyon said. “I’m concerned that if they were brought in by Hinson, it might be some of Dr. Hinson’s philosophies or priorities brought into place. I wish that they would have had a broader scope of applicants, just so that [we] don’t go backwards into the Hinson era.”

To assist them in the search, the BOE will hire search facilitator James Payne at a rate of $100 an hour. A search facilitator is customary for the hiring process and was also used when the Board hired Fulton.

“Mr. Payne will provide a menu of options for us as we conduct the internal search, including conducting surveys and providing us the data on those surveys on attributes for superintendents and concerns of the community,” Ousley said in the Jan. 11 board meeting. “He’ll also be able to help us with conducting the interview process and keeping it separate from our own internal HR process to allow for a more secure, impartial process.”

According to Smith, the search facilitator’s role is to organize the technical aspects and then the Board members will conduct the interviews, choose and inform a candidate, negotiate a contract and publicly announce the decision.

Smith believes the role of the search facilitator is crucial as it helps keep the procedure unbiased.

“[The hiring process is] a confidential process, and if it’s being done by people within the district then it’s not confidential in the same way,” Smith said. “Everybody in this district is going to work for the person they hire, so it’d be kind of odd for somebody who’s going to work for that person to be responsible for that process.”

With Fulton serving three years, Hinson serving four years and the superintendent prior to Hinson, Gene Johnson, serving five years, Goodeyon is disappointed with the constant changes in leadership. She believes that the leaders are unable to fulfill their goals and maintain stable leadership when they serve shorter terms.

“When [the superintendent] change[s], everything shifts underneath them,” Goodeyon said. “We have a new curriculum person and we had to do curriculum revision almost four years in a row. Instead of, ‘Oh, we changed it, let’s work with it for a little bit,’ there was always something new they wanted us to do. That got a little frustrating as a teacher because you didn’t even get a chance to really make the change before they said, ‘Oh, no, let’s try something different.’”

However, the Board hopes that by hiring an internal applicant, the new superintendent will be able to continue developing the Strategic Plan, the district’s initiative for each student to have a personalized learning plan to prepare them for college and careers.

“A fundamental part of Dr. Fulton’s legacy is his role in leading this community through the process of crafting a Strategic Plan, which provides clear direction for the future of the district,” Ousley wrote in a statement responding to Fulton’s retirement. “As we begin the third year of the Strategic Plan, we remain committed to the priorities articulated within it…Dr. Fulton has developed a strong leadership team, and we are confident in their ability to continue moving the work forward.”