Gilbert superintendent search survey results show strong community pride, optimism
Independent Newsmedia/Tom Blodgett
Don Grotting, a consultant from McPherson & Jacobson search firm, reports to the Gilbert Public Schools Governing Board about its superintendent search survey of the community.
Gilbert Public Schools’ search for its next superintendent has drawn widespread community input — and the feedback paints a highly positive picture of the district’s culture, leadership and direction.
Consultant Don Grotting of McPherson & Jacobson presented the results of the superintendent search survey and stakeholder meetings to the governing board during its recent meeting. The survey, conducted by K12 Insight, gathered 460 responses from parents, staff and community members between Oct. 20 and Nov. 2.
Grotting said the responses reflected a deep sense of community and commitment to education.
“Family comes across loud and clear,” he said. “You have a community that supports education, and while they have high expectations for education, they support it.”
He described the results as among the most impressive he has seen.
“This is probably one of the best surveys I’ve seen,” Grody said. “When you look at these nine areas (measured), most of them are over 80% (positive), they’re all over 70%. And it’s pretty unbelievable to have a survey like this.”
The nine areas measured were academic excellence, communication, fiscal management, relationship with families, relationship with local organizations, relationship with district families, relationship with surrounding community, student achievement and success, and transparency.
Survey participants consistently highlighted family atmosphere, teamwork and strong community support as defining strengths of the district.
Respondents also pointed to challenges such as declining enrollment, demographic shifts, and staff recruitment and retention, mirroring concerns raised in earlier stakeholder meetings.
Grotting told the board the feedback indicates Gilbert is in a strong position to attract high-quality candidates.
“You’re going to have a very attractive pool of applicants,” he said. “You do not see in this data results that someone’s coming in to fix something that’s broken.”
He noted that five applications had already been received, but that “the vast, vast majority of these applications for quality jobs like this will come in the last week.”
He added that his team is reaching out nationally to encourage strong candidates to apply, calling Gilbert “a gem of a district.”
Board Clerk Blake Robison asked for the data to be broken down by respondent category — such as parents versus staff — to see if any notable differences existed in perceptions. Grotting said he would follow up with that information but that the high overall satisfaction rates suggest “there couldn’t have been too much” variation.
As the search moves forward, Grotting said the firm will continue conducting reference checks and encouraging strong applicants to apply, while the board and consultants finalize interview formats and evaluation processes. He emphasized that the goal is to ensure “you find somebody that can carry on good work here at Gilbert School District.”
Grotting concluded by commending the district’s leadership, teachers and support staff.
“You’ve got something special here,” he said. “Don’t take it for granted.”
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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