Super Recruiters

San Diego Unified School District's quest to find what will be their fifth superintendent in five years pressed on at the second meeting of the Superintendent Search Advisory Committee on March 18. Of the 15 members on the committee, which includes teachers, parents, community representatives, a student, and a union leader, 12 members showed. Because of the absences, the three-hour meeting was shortened to one hour.

At the beginning of the meeting, Chief District Relations Officer Bernie Rhinerson went over the committee's responsibility to review and approve a job description, comprise a discussion guide for the five town hall meetings, establish criteria to rate and review applications, and select the top seven candidates.

"What I do hear from the board is a sense of urgency," Rhinerson told committee members during the meeting. "They want your committee to complete this work as quick as possible. They would like to have the work done by May, so they can start the interview process."

Shortly after he reviewed the "four key committee tasks," committee members began to voice concerns over the process and over committee member absences. Their concerns ranged from choosing a good job description, to job requirements, as well as the lack of recruitment by the district.

"I am incredibly frustrated," said committee member Norm Ryan on the selection process. "I came here to do a job."

"Are we doing recruitment, or are we just doing advertising? Do you know the difference?" Asked committee member John Stump of the process.

By the time the hour was up, little progress had been made. The committee did agree that meetings would be held every Thursday for three hours. On next week's agenda, committee members will introduce themselves to one another and elect a chairperson. They will then be asked to choose a fitting job description for superintendent of the second largest school district in California.