It includes focus groups to be heard, among them: faith leaders and teachers union leaders.
This is the plan issued by the district this weekend, followed by the initial schedule for input from different interest groups.
It also includes a survey that can be found on the district website HERE.
The board also plans to discuss the search at its next meeting on Monday night.
From the district website:
The Board of Education has hired the firm Hazard, Young, Attea,
and Associates to assist with the superintendent search process and solicit
feedback and input concerning the qualifications for the next superintendent
for our district.
In
order to hear from as wide a range of community members as possible, three
methods to solicit input will be used: an online survey, open forums, and focus
group sessions. The Board plans to
approve a leadership profile and search criteria at the October 20th
Board meeting.
Online Survey: We encourage everyone in the
South Orange and Maplewood communities to fill out the Superintendent Search
survey available on the District
website homepage www.somsd.k12.nj.us. This survey, which will be open through
the end of September, prompts participants to select the highest priority
qualifications for the next superintendent and also provides an open comment section. The results will provide an important
component to building the leadership profile and search criteria for the next
superintendent.
Open Forums:
2 open forums will be held in the Columbia High School Library and are
open to all members of the South Orange and Maplewood Communities. The dates for the open forums are Tuesday,
September 9th at 7:00 PM and Thursday, October 9th at 8:15 PM.
Focus Group Sessions:
The Board has identified the following focus groups to tap into multiple
stakeholders and established organizations in our community to ensure that a
broad representation of community input is gathered during this feedback
period.
Many of the focus groups are scheduled to meet with the search
consultants on Saturday, September 13th. The initial schedule has been revised to
allow more time for groups with similar interests to meet with the
consultants. Additional evening sessions
have also been scheduled for Elementary, Middle and High School parents. The Board would like to apologize for
originally scheduling the faith leader group for Saturday morning, which would
have excluded Jewish leaders due to the Sabbath. We are very sorry for this oversight.
Elementary School Parents: Saturday 9/13 9:00 AM and Monday 10/6 7:00 PM for parents/
guardians of elementary school students.
Middle School Parents: Saturday 9/13 10:15 AM and
Monday 10/6 8:15 PM for parents/
guardians of middle school students
Community Coalition on Race &
SOMA Parents of Students of African Descent Workshop: Saturday 9/13 12:45 PM. CCR is an organization whose mission is
"to achieve and sustain the benefits of a thriving, racially integrated
and truly inclusive community that serves as a model for the nation." They have an active Schools Committee that
has provided input to District leaders and supported parent advocacy for many
years. SOMA-PSADW is a recently
established group focused on equitable treatment of African American students
and their access to higher level classes.
Special Education Parent Advisory
Committee (SEPAC), Special Education PTO, and others in the special needs
community:
Saturday 9/13 2:00 PM. One session was
held in July, but additional outreach is needed
Achieve: Saturday
9/13 3:15 PM. Achieve is our local
education foundation that provides a wide range of enrichment opportunities,
professional development, tutoring, and facility improvements for the South
Orange-Maplewood School District.
Faith Leaders:
Tuesday, 9/9 6:00 PM. Leaders in
the numerous houses of worship throughout Maplewood and South Orange often have
trusting relationships and insight into the needs and concerns of their members
- families with students in our school district. We would like their input on the strengths
and challenges facing our school district and important characteristics for the
next Superintendent from the perspective of community members they
represent. The Board is not seeking
input of a religious nature.
SOMEA members: Teachers and support staff. Focus groups were held at the end of June,
but more outreach is needed. Additional
focus group dates and times are still being finalized.
CHS students: The date and times for CHS
students to meet with the search consultant are still being finalized.
District
Administrators: Focus group sessions were held with Administrators in
July.
PTA/HSA Presidents' Council:
A focus group session was held with members of the PTA/ HSA President’s
Council in July. This organization is
comprised of the current PTA and HSA Presidents of all 9 schools, as well as an
executive Board of former presidents.
Municipal Officials: We will email the municipal officials in both South Orange
and Maplewood to invite them to participate in the open forums, take
the online survey, and speak to the search consultant directly by phone.
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