Reynoldsburg schools: Community focus groups scheduled as superintendent search begins

Stephen Borgna, ThisWeek
·2 min read
The Reynoldsburg City Schools Robert P. Heischman Administrative building is at 7244 East Main St.
The Reynoldsburg City Schools Robert P. Heischman Administrative building is at 7244 East Main St.

Focus groups to gather input to use in the search for Reynoldsburg City Schools’ next superintendent will take place May 2.

Superintendent Melvin Brown is leaving for Montgomery County Schools in Alabama.

The focus groups begin at 8:30 a.m. and are hosted by Finding Leaders – the consultant hired by the district to help identify Brown’s replacement – in coordination with the district.

The groups are broken into different sessions geared toward different audiences and will be held at a variety of locations. The Focus Group schedule is posted on the district’s website.

Finding Leaders and district officials hope the focus groups will allow them to gather input from parents, city leaders, businesses, civic leaders and students, according to board of education president Debbie Dunlap.

“(The focus groups) will be giving us their input on what criteria and characteristics they would like to see in a new superintendent,” she said.

“The input from all of those stakeholders will be compiled by Finding Leaders, and that will help Finding Leaders as they screen the initial candidates and come to us with their suggested first group for interviews.."

Finding Leaders is expected to present semifinalists to the board May 14, “based on the BOE Profile and Focus Group feedback,” according to a schedule posted on the district website.

The board plans to conduct interviews with semifinalists May 18-19, with final interviews May 23 and 25, according to the schedule.

The district plans to select the next superintendent May 27 with a contract to begin no later than Aug. 1, the schedule says.

A job posting for Reynoldsburg City Schools superintendent is posted on Ohioschoolboards.org. The deadline for applications is May 13.

“We are casting the net wide,” Dunlap said. “We are advertising nationally, but we are also considering internal candidates as well.”

sborgna@thisweeknews.com

@ThisWeekSteve

This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Reynoldsburg schools: Community focus groups scheduled as superintendent search begins