Superintendent Searches: Here's How it's Done

At the same time that the MoCo Board of Education is secretly beavering away with search firm HYA, with secret offsite interviews of the 'semi-finalists' in early April, and even more secret interviews with the 'finalists' in mid-April, to include a few members of the community who were secretly invited and required to sign confidentiality agreements, Ann Arbor, Michigan has a public process.  For some reason, they have their pick of applicants.  Here is an article by Jennifer Coffman, in the Feb 28, 2011 Ann Arbor Chronicle, that actually states who the finalists are, along with their ideas on various topics.  So you can compare.  Even more amazing, members of the Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Trustees seem to feel confident they will be able to hire a great superintendent.  Read the full article here.

Here is an excerpt from the article:
The article goes on to present the statements and answers to questions by all the finalists.  Oh, so that's what a democracy looks like. I wondered.

By week’s end, the Ann Arbor Public Schools board of trustees will choose from among three finalists to fill its open superintendent position. Finalists include: Patricia Green (North Allegheny School District, Pennsylvania); Michael Muñoz (Des Moines Public Schools, Iowa); and Shelley Redinger (Oregon Trail School District, Oregon).



The public is invited to interview the three finalists at community forums to be held on Friday, March 4 from 6-8:30 p.m. in the Pioneer High School cafeteria annex, 601 W. Stadium Blvd. Also open to the public are the candidates’ second interviews with the board, which begin at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 5 in the main conference room of the AAPS Balas Administration Building, 2555 S. State St. The board’s final deliberations on their preferred candidate will immediately follow the final interviews. Those deliberations are expected to start around noon.