The hunt for a new Owensboro Public Schools superintendent will soon take off, as the OPS Board of Education came together Friday for a superintendent search planning meeting with a consultant from the Kentucky School Boards Association (KSBA).
KSBA will be available to assist OPS in the months-long process of advertising the superintendent vacancy left by Nick Brake. A screening committee compiled of five individuals will also assist OPS in selecting viable candidates for the position.
OPS board members confirmed that Interim Superintendent Matthew Constant will be throwing his hat into the ring for superintendent.
As explained by KSBA Field Consultant Quin Sutton, the OPS board will conduct interviews and advertise the superintendent vacancy on both state and national platforms, and the screening committee will narrow down a list of three candidates they believe to be best for the spot. OPS board members can accept the recommendations from the committee, or not, as they have the ultimate say in who gets an interview, and who will be selected as superintendent.
Advertising for the position will begin Jan. 22 and applications will close by Feb. 22. Nominations for the five-person screening committee will take place during this time as well, and elections should be completed by Feb. 10.
“Most of your candidates come from Kentucky, usually. You may get some from Indiana” and other nearby states, Sutton said. “Most likely, you’ll get some from across the country as well.”
Sutton said he will keep the board informed on the number of applicants KSBA has received, where the individuals reside, what experience they have, and so forth, but that the OPS board will have very little involvement during the screening process.
Sutton and the OPS board set an Apr. 27 deadline Friday to have a second joint meeting between the board and the selected screening committee, where the board will receive the official committee recommendations.
“We try to keep this process as confidential as possible,” Sutton said, explaining that a number of OPS principals and central office staff may very likely apply for the position of superintendent, but not want others to know.
The screening committee will be compiled of two OPS teachers, one OPS principal, one classified representative from OPS and one parent. Those who receive the most nominations will be chosen for the committee and Sutton said votes will be done via paper ballot and counted carefully.
Interviews will be conducted by the board on May 1, and a new superintendent should be named by June 1.
OPS Board Members Michael Johnson and Jeremy Luckett said they’d like to include OPS’s diversity and a strong focus on the arts in the advertisement, as those characteristics have helped define the OPS district for decades.
Sutton added that, because OPS’s enrollment exceeds an eight percent minority population, another election for parent representatives will be held to ensure a minority is on the screening committee, which would bring the total number of representatives to six.
