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Schools

District wants broad search for schools chief

Candidates to replace Earl Lennard as superintendent could come from many professional backgrounds.

By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK
Published February 2, 2005

TAMPA - Hillsborough County's new schools superintendent might have no experience with schools at all.

The School Board wants to hire an executive-recruiting firm that will reach beyond educators. Its pool of candidates could include leaders from the private sector, nonprofits, the military and other government agencies.

"I want to cast the widest net," board Chairwoman Candy Olson said at Tuesday's board meeting.

Hillsborough is the nation's 10th-largest school system, and board members indicated a desire to look for the best qualified person to replace retiring superintendent Earl Lennard. As board member Carolyn Bricklemyer noted, many large districts have turned to noneducators to run their organizations.

Seattle, for instance, hired a retired Army major general to lead its administration in 1995 and, in 2003, a former banker. Duval County, has a retired Air Force officer in charge and, until recently, Miami-Dade schools were led by Merrett Stierheim, a longtime municipal manager who was once Pinellas County administrator.

"I think it's time to be as open minded and progressive as we can," board member Carol Kurdell said. "When people say we need an educator, I always say, "If (retired Central Command commander) Tommy Franks walked up and offered his services, would you say no?' "

The district has plenty of education experts, she said. If someone with exceptional leadership skills steps forth, that person deserves serious consideration.

Few on the board disagreed. That's not to say that looking will yield anything other than a relocating superintendent, though.

"I'm not saying we should necessarily" hire a noneducator, board member Doretha Edgecomb said. "But this gives us one more area to look at."

Olson guessed that as the community and board devise the superintendent's job description, they will lean toward a career educator's resume. Kurdell offered that anyone in Lennard's top tier of administrators could ably assume the role.

Bricklemyer, meanwhile, contended that someone with an education background has "strong advantages."

The point, board member Jack Lamb said, is to make sure that top-quality candidates don't get overlooked simply because they don't have a list of school jobs in their past.

"We want to be as open as possible, so when we do decide, we know we have the best."

Firms that want to run the superintendent search have until Monday to submit proposals to the district.

At a meeting Tuesday, the board also named Scott Weaver as new principal of Dale Mabry Elementary School. Weaver was assistant principal for elementary instruction at Bryant Elementary School.

Times staff researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report.

[Last modified February 2, 2005, 00:31:09]