Timeline for hiring new superintendent, Survey opens Thursday

LISD timeline
By ASHLEY SAVA, Hill Country News

The Leander ISD School Board voted to hire the firm Thompson & Horton to conduct Leander ISD’s superintendent search a month ago.

This week on Jun. 16, a link to the LISD “Superintendent Survey” will be available for those in the district to take.

“It will be sent via Insider to our email list and then posted on our website,” said Veronica Sopher, LISD spokesperson. “(There are) no updates until the firm meets with media on the 16th.”

During the board’s regular meeting on May 19, representatives from Thompson & Horton presented their search plan to the trustees.

Mike Moses, a consultant of the firm, said they are striving to get a new superintendent in place by the start of the new school year.

“If possible, it would be nice if the new superintendent could be here by then,” Moses said. “It isn’t necessary but it would be nice to help set the tone.”

Firm Partner David Thompson echoed those sentiments.

“The least favored time for people to move is right after school starts,” Thompson said. “I think your candidates, if they are relocating, will want to be part of the start of the new school year.”

A few trustees expressed their concerns on hiring a superintendent too quickly.
Moses said if it isn’t possible to find one in time to start the new school year that it is still important that he or she is there on the first few days of school.

“It’s important for them to speak to students, teachers and principals on those first days,” he said. “If I had anything I’d like to say, I’d really like to say it early in the school year. That’s something to think about. If I had family I wouldn’t want to move them after the
year started.”

Thompson and Moses said a relocating candidate hired in time might be able to spend time at the district they are departing as well as at Leander ISD to allow for a fair transition.

“We know timing is important to do a thorough search to look through the best candidates,” Thompson said. “This schedule allows you to do a thorough search and also potentially have a new superintendent in place before the start of the next school year. We started this with the end in mind.”

According to Moses, the board and the firm would need to meet toward the end of June to look through the candidate pool. He said they slated the deadline for candidate applications for June 23.

“This is the calendar we believe is responsible enough to allow us to do thorough recruiting on your behalf,” Thompson said.