Higley USD will take its time finding the right replacement for Dawn Foley as superintendent, the governing board president said.
President Tiffany Shultz said Thursday the board will conduct a thorough search and consider internal and external candidates for the position from which Foley resigned June 6.
“We're giving ourselves a year at least to find the best superintendent for the job,” she said. “We don't want to rush into anything right now.”
Shultz said the board is considering three outside firms to conduct the search and will choose by October, at which point the search will start in earnest.
“That's just because it is a difficult time to find a superintendent right now,” she said. “We don't want somebody to leave their contract. It's not really superintendent hunting or finding season, if you will.”
Shultz said the board wants to find someone who will capitalize on what Foley built during her three years running the district, first as acting superintendent during the 2020-21 school year, then in the job full time the next two years.
Foley has started a position as a research project manager at Arizona State University in its Educational Outreach and Student Services department, according to her LinkedIn profile.
“Dr. Foley was a great asset to Higley in what she did and the vision that she saw — putting together a ‘Portrait of a Graduate’ and having specific goals and building a team,” Shultz said. “We don't want to lose that momentum for Higley.”
Shultz also praised Interim Superintendent Sherry Richards for her willingness to step up from the district’s No. 2 spot to lead HUSD during the coming school year.
“She has stepped up in a great way, and she has a supportive team around her who has also agreed to help her as well,” Shultz said.
Shultz said the next superintendent must be able to operate in what has become a difficult environment for public schools.
“There is a lot of scrutiny and a lot of people trying to do things to take down public education,” she said. “You're going to have to be a strong leader. We're going to have to have no-nonsense person who wants to take on that role and be able to lead the team. Also, like I said, the vision to be able to lead Higley into the next decade.”
Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him @sp_blodgett on Twitter. We would like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.
Tom Blodgett Senior News Editor | Gilbert @sp_blodgett
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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