- By Dan Veaner
- News
Print 
The Lansing Board of Education (BOE) voted Monday to appoint the firm of Castallo & Silky as consultants to help the district hire a new Superintendent of Schools. "We're ready to go ahead with those folks and have them advise us through the process," said BOE President Tom Keane. "We talked to them about trying to go as quickly as we can. I think they are interested in helping us go quickly as well."
The school board is faced with hiring an interim superintendent while they search for a new superintendent, business administrator, and director of curriculum, the three top administrative positions in the district. But board members could not agree on a job description for the director of curriculum position. Part of the problem was that former Director of Curriculum Deb Pichette did so much above and beyond her job description, notably managing and restructuring the district's technology department, that board members are at a loss as to how all the things she did will be covered.
 (Left to right) School board members Bonita Lindberg, President Tom Keane, Glenn Swanson, Sandi Dhimitri, David Dittman |
In addition they fear they will not be able to find candidates qualified in both curriculum development and technology. On top of that some board members said they were concerned that if they approve this position now, that some time in the future they will be asked to approve a second Director of Technology position, something they says they are unwilling to do because of the cost to the district. "As long as nobody comes asking for a Director of Technology later, I am ready to move forward with this," said board member Sandi Dhimitri. "But I just can't see us with two (positions). It's a leap of faith that the new superintendent will have enough technology background to provide the support. It's a very skilled group of technology folks, but they still need a leader."
Business Administrator Larry Lawrence noted that in many districts the business administrator has the responsibility of managing technology departments, and that would give the board more options as they interview superintendent and business administrator candidates.
Pichette was hired to be the Director of Curriculum and Staff Development, but with a technology department in shambles, the network infrastructure failing and overloaded, and outdated equipment, she was asked to manage this vital aspect of the district's operations. She focussed about 60% of her time on restructuring the department, hiring new employees, and funding equipment and infrastructure, as well as consolidating and updating software. While doing this she managed to establish a regional teacher center, including getting State funding and a grant from Senator Michael Nozzolio, as well as to work with staff on a consolidated K-12 curriculum.
Business Administrator Larry Lawrence (left) and Superintendent Mark Lewis
both leave the district on August 31st.
"It's unfortunate that part of Deb's time was diverted by technology," said board member Bonita Lindberg. "As much as I was glad to have somebody step up to the forefront and do that, and certainly she did an admirable job, I'm not satisfied with what was going on in curriculum. That was the piece that took more of a second chair. But last year technology was the burning platform. She did what she had to do to get it done. In replacing her I prefer the stronger emphasis on curriculum."
Superintendent Mark Lewis presented a list of 47 tasks Pichette typically performed when she was here. "If you look at the list it is more a balance now of curriculum development, staff development, and instructional technology responsibilities," he said. "Items 9 through 14, which are more oriented toward the technical side of technology -- we will have to determine whose responsibility they would be," Lewis said. "To acquire somebody with such broad based skills as Director of Technology and Curriculum and Staff Development would be virtually impossible."
But new BOE member David Dittman brought the whole job description into question. A definition of exactly what the position is has plagued the board for years, and contributed to an uncomfortable and uncertain attitude toward the job that may have contributed to Pichette leaving. Dittman said that a committee of building principals headed by Middle School Principal Jamie Thomas would be a less costly solution to maintaining an integrated curriculum. But Thomas and new Elementary Principal Chriss Pettograsso, who recently held the position of Director of Curriculum in Watkins Glen, both argued that an administrator with a district-wide approach is critical, that new data collection and mining required by the State requires an administrator to keep the district in compliance, and that the day to day crises that principals typically deal with put long term broad based curriculum planning on hold.
Dittman noted that Pichette had acted as an assistant superintendent, and said he was confused about what the actual responsibilities of the position are. "I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around it," Dittman said. "I would feel more comfortable if we were more specific on what the responsibilities are."
Castallo & Silky is a national firm with offices in New York and California that specializes in helping school boards hire administrative staff, help provide feedback from constituency groups, grade level reorganization, administrative procedures, and training. Recently they have helped New York school districts in Palmyra-Macedon, Southwestern Central, Greece, Central Square, and Newark to find new superintendents.
"Confidentiality is certainly one of their hallmarks and one of their main concerns, certainly in the early parts of the search," Keane noted. "We spent a lot of time talking about how we can get community input on a superintendent profile, and in what ways we'll involve the community or the constituent groups as we move through the interview process. We're not settled on those topics yet, but we are certainly going to be involving the community in building the profile for the superintendent."
Meanwhile Lindberg reported that a candidate for interim superintendent that the BOE had interviewed is not available, and set out to arrange times when board members can meet to interview other candidates.
Pichette left for a new position last week, and Lewis and Lawrence's last day will be August 31.
----
v3i28