Last night, the Hour reports, around 60 parents and residents met with Norwalk School Superintendent Corda and to chat about the process of hiring a new principal and 4 housemasters for Brien McMahon. The hiring process, I’ll dub “Instructional Principal Hiring Specialists”, begins with a hired gun consultant who will pick and choose a candidates to present to two teams consisting of ; Four teachers, four parents, one housemaster and two students will be on one interview team, and on the second team will be a director of secondary education, an instructional specialist, a director of special education and the human resource officer.

No wonder the parents are concerned. how convoluted is this? Isn’t there anyone in the Norwalk Schools System presently teaching, assistant or vice principaling, or a department head that could move into this principal position? And by human resources officer, does this mean Director of Human Relations and State Rep Bruce Morris?

And how does an instructional specialist become qualified to judge the administrative capabilities of a prospective candidate when they are busy working on curriculum …. oh wait.

Anna Gufstafson, reporter for the Hour was problem understating when she reported, “… and many who voiced their opinions said they’re concerned administrators will not heed parents’ opinions when filling the open positions.” The BOE members who were there apparently sided with the administration, forgetting that they actually are in place to represent the concerns of the parents who elected them to those positions. From the Hour:

There’s a distrust of the hiring process,” said Benita Raleigh, a parent and member of past search committees. “Dr. Corda wants to wipe the slate clean and hire the people he wants.”

Corda said he values input from residents and parents and wants them to believe they are an “integral” part of the hiring process. “It’s important people feel their participation is significant,” he said. “If there’s a negative response from the committee and it doesn’t resonate with my own assessment, I probe that with the committee.”

During the beginning of the meeting held in the Center for Global Studies, Corda detailed the hiring process for the principal and said a consultant, Richard Lerer, will choose a slate of candidates for the two interview committees to interview, which is slated to happen by next week. Four teachers, four parents, one housemaster and two students will be on one interview team, and on the second team will be a director of secondary education, an instructional specialist, a director of special education and the human resource officer.

Corda and some parents disagreed on the weight each team carried, and Corda said both teams’ opinions factored into the final decision to hire a candidate. Parents said the team of administrators carried more weight than the team consisting of parents, staff and students.

Distrust might have been a good thing to have on the BOE. But they went another way:

Board of Education members agreed with Corda and said the board values parents’ input.

“I understand your concerns, but there’s no one more committed to this than I am. I was the first president of the first class of Brien McMahon; I taught here; I was a guidance counselor here,” said Richard Fuller, a board member. “We appreciate parents’ opinions, and I want you to understand the commitment on the part of the board. We’re very aware of the culture here at Brien McMahon.”

Board of Education Chairwoman Jody Bishop-Pullan agreed.

“I want to ensure there’s a broad range of candidates,” she said. “Board member Greg Burnett put it best when he said this is a great school. Someone who comes in here has a great foundation to do even greater things.”

Replacing a beloved principal is never easy. But cramming down a process over objections isn’t the right first step.

Source: The Hour, Parents worried about being left out of hiring process, By ANNA GUSTAFSON, March 22, 2007