Gilbert Public Schools is moving forward with a plan to enlist outside help in its search for a new superintendent.
Following a unanimous 5-0 vote after an executive session July 29, governing board President Chad Thompson said the district will issue a request for written quotation to potential search firms to assist in the process.
“We're going to send that out to various firms to send us back their best quotes,” Thompson said.
The board is searching for a replacement for Superintendent Shane McCord, who announced in May this will be his final school year before retiring.
Thompson said the board agreed it was important to bring in a search firm given that only one member, Jill Humpherys, had previously participated in a superintendent search.
“We're going to use a firm to help us with our search,” Thompson said. “Since so many of us are so unfamiliar with the process, I think it's going to be important, and there's so many more aspects besides just presenting candidates that a search firm provides. I mean, they help with timelines, they help with the transition, which is a big deal. And so that's something that we're interested in getting help with.”
As for how soon a new superintendent might be chosen, Thompson said the timeline will come into focus after receiving responses from firms.
“I think right now we're just worried about getting this request out and then based on the response, the response will dictate a lot of our future timeline,” he said.
We would like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him @sp_blodgett on X.
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).
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