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Illinois School Board Journal
May/June 2006
Wanted by the board: Best leader possible
by Kent F. Johansen
Sooner or later, your school board will have to go into the marketplace looking for a new superintendent.
Whether it's due to retirement or a higher-paying job offer, each year finds nearly one in every four superintendents packing up and moving on. The school board, of course, has to find a suitable successor. The key questions that face every board sooner or later: What can we expect to find? How difficult will it be to find someone we really want?
To give your school board a realistic view of what to expect when the time comes to enter the superintendent search arena, you need to look at current Illinois data. And, unfortunately, the facts suggest the demand for qualified superintendent candidates is escalating with no sign of easing.
"News from the Regions," published by the Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA), shows the annual number of superintendent vacancies climbed steadily over the past six years. Specifically:
The same source shows that of the 112 total vacancies in 2000, 36 were filled by current practicing superintendents from other Illinois districts (32 percent), while 68 were filled by first-time superintendents — either new to the field or new to Illinois (61 percent). The remaining eight were either not filled at the time of publication (two) or filled by interim superintendents.
Of the 197 total vacancies for 2006, 51 were filled by current practicing superintendents from other Illinois districts (26 percent), while 111 were filled by first-time superintendents (56 percent). The remaining 35 slots were either not filled at the time of publication (two) or filled by interim superintendents. (See the graph, "Illinois Superintendent Vacancies, FY 2000 – FY 2006.")
Growth among interims
These numbers represent a significant shift. In 2006, 33 interim superintendents started the year (17 percent of all vacancies), compared with just six interim superintendents in 2000 (5 percent of all vacancies). That is, there were 5.5 times as many interim superintendents in 2006 as there were in 2000.
Rhodes School District 84.5 in River Grove, a Chicago suburb southeast of O'Hare Airport, is one of those districts that turned to an interim before hiring a new superintendent for the 2006-07 school year. The K-8 district has about 700 students and employs 48 teachers in one building that serves as a feeder district for Leyden CHSD 212 campuses in both Franklin Park and Northlake.
The superintendent they were looking to replace had been with the district just two years, said William Horn, Rhodes SD 84.5 board president. Because his resignation came at the end of the school year, "we used an interim superintendent because we thought that we were late in beginning a search for the '05-06 school year. This put us in a good position to begin a search early for the '06-07 school year."
Horn said he had expected about 15 applicants for the position that they have now filled with a superintendent from another Illinois district. By hiring an interim and waiting for what they thought was better timing, he said the board was more than pleased with the 27 applicants who replied to postings sent out through Illinois Association of School Boards' search service.
Comparing the experience of districts like Rhodes 84.5 with the statistics above suggests rather strongly that more and more school boards are relying on retired superintendents to fill the gap on an interim basis when they determine they cannot hire a suitable full-time superintendent.
If the current 120-day limit of working and maintaining full retirement benefits reverts to the original 100 days as slated for July 1, 2006, this may be a more difficult alternative in the future. As this goes to press, HB 5331, sponsored by Rep. Roger Eddy (R-Hutsonville), is making its way through the Illinois legislature to retain the 120-day limit. However, a change could further restrict the options school boards have in a tight superintendent marketplace.
Other limiting factors
Another limiting factor on the depth of the superintendent pool is the number of new candidates completing and becoming certificated. In Illinois, 15 institutions of higher education offer Type 75 superintendent endorsement certificates. One of these institutions also offers an alternative certification initiative (ACI) Type 77 superintendent endorsement. This provisional alternative administrative certificate allows a district to identify a school or local business leader with the appropriate experience and academic credentials and have that person ready to assume the superintendency of the district in as little as six to nine months.
However, not all students who complete a certification program immediately — or ever — apply for and obtain a certificate. For example, the number of candidates completing the Type 75 or 77 programs ranged from 132 in 2002 to 178 in 2005. While all but one actually obtained a certificate in 2005, only 107 candidates obtained a Type 75 or 77 certificate in 2002.
Even if all newly certificated candidates entered the superintendent candidate pool each year (an assumption that is never true), they do not replace the superintendents who are leaving. This again helps account for the growing reliance on interim superintendents and new superintendent hires from out-of-state. (See the graph "Illinois Superintendent Vacancies vs. Certificates Issued, FY 2002 – FY 2006.")
A few additional statistics pertinent to the topic of searches involve the average age of current superintendents, numbers of years in their current positions, their total years as a superintendent and the average age of Illinois superintendent retirees.
Results from the annual survey by the Illinois Association of School Administrators show that in 2004, the average age of Illinois superintendents was 53 years with five years of experience in their current positions and an average of nine years total superintendent experience.
The average age of Illinois superintendents has changed little in the past several years, but it is up from the 1995 average of 49 years. The number of years in their current positions reached a five-year low at five years in 2004. However, total years as a superintendent remained almost unchanged in the five years ending in 2004 — nine years of experience with a range of nine to 10.2 years.
This data contradicts the common wisdom that there would be younger and less experienced superintendents in Illinois over the past decade following a variety of early retirement incentives.
One additional statistic to complete the picture of the superintendent pool for Illinois school districts is the average age of retirees in the Teachers Retirement System in 2005. While specific data on the average age of the retiring superintendents is not available, the average age of all TRS retirees in 2005 was 58 years, the same as in 2004, according to the TRS Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for fiscal year ended June 30, 2005.
If we can extrapolate that to mean the sub-group of administrators and superintendents was also approximately 58 years old at retirement, the amount of remaining service of existing superintendents is only in the five-year range — assuming the average current age 53 and an average retirement age of 58.
What does it mean?
So what can a school board expect in terms of a candidate pool if they are in the marketplace for a new superintendent?
If school boards are going to be successful when they enter the superintendent search process, they will need to keep these statistics in mind, identify all their options, and be prepared to exert some extra effort in attracting the candidates they want.
"I would advise any board to begin their search as early as possible," said Rhodes SD 84.5 board president Horn. "I would also advise that once the board finds the candidate that they want, don't delay in offering that person a contract."
The anchor of comparable worth
When it comes to compensation for administrators in general and superintendents in particular, school boards have tried every conceivable anchor or reference point for baseline salary.
They've tried salaries as a percentage of teacher salary schedules. They've tried tying salary to what past superintendents have earned. They've looked at perceived comparable worth in the local business sector. They've even relied on the perceived worth based on the collective opinion of board members.
But the one logical salary anchor or reference point that they often overlook is the job's worth compared to other similar school district superintendents.
"Using comparable superintendent salary data helps the board focus on an objective, publicly defensible salary range," said Ed Olds, an associate with a private search firm.
In addition, comparable worth is often a starting point for businesses looking to hire professionals. They begin by asking, "What are our competitors paying for the same or similar professional doing the same or similar job?"
"When we first were presented with the concept of paying administrators based on benchmarks over 10 years ago, it made perfect sense to me," said Ron Steenken, board president of Meridian CUSD 223 in Ogle County and president of an engineering consulting firm. "We had been doing that in my field long before that."
The concept of comparable worth implies that if a district pays a quality administrator salary and benefits comparable to districts of similar demographics, that — if all other factors are equal — a quality administrator will not leave the district to assume a position in a comparable district. Applying a comparable worth strategy also can help improve the quality of a new hire, as well as increase stability within administrative positions.
That was evident last year in Rockford SD 205 when the school district lost one of its promising assistant principals to a neighboring district.
"We need to establish some kind of coherent pay structure," Rockford superintendent Dennis Thompson was quoted as saying in a Rockford Register Star editorial. "We don't have that here and some of the administrators are grossly underpaid. Some have gone elsewhere."
To implement comparable worth, boards of education must define the parameters for their comparison. Comparable worth implies that the district will compare apples to apples. That is, a school board has complete control over defining comparable districts and comparable positions. This determination can be based on geography, athletic conference affiliation, student enrollment, district organization (elementary, high school or unit), district wealth, or any other factors that the school board feels are important.
Once comparable districts are determined by the board, the remaining questions are:
Once these issues are resolved, gathering data for a simple spreadsheet will enable the board to make a data-based salary and benefit decision rather than adopting an arbitrary salary package.
The concept of comparable worth will not solve all of the problems associated with recruiting, hiring and retaining a quality superintendent. However, combined with other aspects of data-based decision making, the school board takes a big step in completing the complex task of a superintendent search.
Mentoring to keep a good superintendent
School districts, encouraged by research, have embraced the concept of mentoring new teachers for years. Retaining good teachers is the primary aim of long-term mentoring programs.
But why aren't the concepts of quality and retention recurring themes in the superintendent research as well? Why would it be acceptable to provide mentoring for teachers but ignore the potential benefits for superintendents?
New teachers also have the advantage of mentoring by colleagues within their own buildings. New superintendents, however, find themselves in the top position in their district with no other similar position available for collaboration. For the most part, they still must rely for mentoring on a hit-or-miss basis, depending on the number of experienced superintendents in their area.
With 68 percent of new Illinois superintendents either new to the state or new to the position in general during the 2005-06 school year, mentoring should be a major consideration when initiating a search for a superintendent.
The Illinois Association of School Administrators recognized the need for superintendent mentoring in 2004, according to Jacob Broncato, IASA director of professional development. After a full year of studying induction and mentoring programs for superintendents, the IASA board recently approved three options for those regions that want to better meet the mentoring needs of new superintendents, he said.
The three models, identified by a regional IASA survey, are:
Sullivan Roundtable: Practicing superintendents can attend these meetings, which have no written agenda, to share materials like salary schedules, board reports, operational materials and administrator contracts, as well as copies of district policies, handbooks, course descriptions, newsletters, etc. The group may identify a discussion topic for those attending and also may conduct periodic surveys. The group may or may not have its own listserv.
Monthly group meetings: Informal lunches are held to share ideas and solve problems. New superintendents are encouraged to attend, usually by invitation of a regional membership or professional development chairman. An informal time is scheduled following each meeting for those who wish to discuss special interest topics. Additional meetings also may be scheduled just for new superintendents and their mentors.
One-on-One Mentoring: Regional representatives assign mentors to work with superintendents who are either new to the position itself or new to a region. Contact is encouraged at least twice a month and may take the form of phone calls, e-mail or meetings.
IASA, regional offices of education, search firms and local universities are all capable of providing long- or short-term mentoring opportunities for new superintendents and their school boards. If school boards perceive the need, it only takes a phone call to establish a cost-effective, formal mentoring program for a new superintendent.
School boards have a lot of time and effort invested in the search and hiring of a new superintendent. It only makes sense to do whatever is necessary to ensure the best results of those search efforts.
Regular mentoring for new superintendents might provide the best chance of ensuring the superintendent's success.