GPS superintendent search includes community input, national outreach
Screen capture from YouTube
Gilbert Public Schools Governing Board President Chad Thompson, left, is leading the board as it searches for a replacement for the retiring Shane McCord, right.
Gilbert Public Schools is entering the community feedback phase of its search for a new superintendent, with a national posting now live and an online survey open to gather input from parents, staff and residents.
Board President Chad Thompson said the district’s consultant, McPherson & Jacobson, has posted the position nationally and is assisting with identifying and screening candidates to replace Shane McCord, who retires at the end of the school year.
A brief online survey asks the community what qualities and priorities they believe the next superintendent should bring to the job.
“The survey is pretty generic, but we’re just trying to get the thoughts of parents and teachers on what they think a superintendent should know coming into this job,” Thompson said.
The survey remains open through Oct. 30.
Thompson said the board’s current schedule includes a series of key activities in the coming months.
“There’s quite a bit of stuff going on in November and then nothing in December, and then it picks up again in January,” he said. “We didn’t want to burden any board members or staff or any potential candidates with travel and things like that in December.”
The process will include multiple interview rounds and opportunities for public engagement.
“We’re going to have first round of interviews, second round of interviews, we’re going to do public forums, things like that,” Thompson said.
As the search progresses, he said board members are finding alignment on priorities and approach.
“It’s already brought us closer together as a board, but through adversity,” he said. “Each of us have learned better how to compromise and also how to express and articulate what each of us are expecting and want.”
Thompson said the board’s goal is to find a leader who can continue to strengthen an already high-performing district.
“We can take the solid and very strong foundation that we have and then just really pinpoint those areas that need to be improved or could be improved and find a superintendent that can come into the community and build on the excellence that we already enjoy here in GPS,” he said.
The district has said it will keep families and community members informed as the process continues.
The board meets again at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the district office, 140 S. Gilbert Road, Gilbert, though the search is not on the agenda.
Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines. 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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