OMSD board trains to fill superintendent vacancy

EROS — Kristen Garner, an Arkansas School Board Association staff attorney, met with members of the Ozark Mountain School District Board of Education Wednesday night, April 30 in part to provide board members with necessary training, and to help them prepare for the task of selecting a new superintendent for the school district.
Superintendent Jeff Lewis recently announced his resignation effective June 30 when his current contract expires.
Garner attended the meeting remotely, speaking to the board gathered in the auditorium at the Bruno-Pyatt Elementary School. She prefaced her presentation telling board members they were about to get a crash course on the state's Veterans Preference Law. Board members are required to earn a minimum of 6 hours of training annually. Then she said she would help the board members develop a scoring system (rubric) to evaluate potential candidates for the superintendent's position.
The Veteran's Preference Law was enacted by the state government in 1981. It gives a covered individual a slight competitive edge in being considered for a job. The law was added to cover school districts in 2013.
Covered under this law are:
• Military veteran with at least 6 years of service, an honorable discharge, or currently serving in the National Guard with at least 6 years of service.
• Disabled veteran.
• Surviving spouse of deceased veteran if unmarried at time of application and employment decision.
All must be a citizen and resident of Arkansas and be substantially equally qualified as other applicants.
The veteran must prove their asserted status with documentation and state citizenship.
If a veteran is not hired, the veteran is entitled, upon request, to a written reason why he/she was not selected for interview or selected for hire which would involve disclosing the rubric/criteria and the veteran's score.
Garner explained the preference law is designed to be a tie-breaker between two virtually identical candidates. The veterans preference would give the numerical scoring edge to the one who had prior military service over the other.
Garner emphasized that the board doesn't have to automatically interview anybody just because they say they are a veteran. "It is not a magic word."
The rubric is a screening tool to review applications. It lets the board members agree about what is important to the district before looking at individuals.
The board is entitled to create a screening tool that gives numerical points for the attributes that are important to it, as long as the board also include points for a veteran, disabled veteran or spouse of deceased veteran.
With that information covered, Garner led the board into a conversation to consider its priorities for engaging in the search for a new superintendent.
She began by posing some questions.

Is successful prior experience as an administrator or superintendent important?
Is current experience important or are you open to candidates who have been out of educational leadership lately?
Is prior Arkansas experience important?
Typically, the longevity success for a superintendent, nationally, is an average of 3-5 years. Superintendents of rural schools, nationally, serve for an average of 5 years.
Arkansas education laws change and so educators learn as they go. For those who have been out of the profession for even a short while may find the position is no longer like it was when they left.
An experienced out of state superintendent would be starting a zero knowledge about Arkansas law, Garner related to the board.
"I'm not here telling you what to do. I am just here offering options and suggestions," Garner said. She told the board she will write down what is important to them so the board will have a product it can own and support.
Garner also pointed out that the board is allowed to hire someone who is not fully licensed as a superintendent. The education department gives them 3 years to get fully licensed.
The board might feel it is important to be familiar with the community.
Doing a reference check properly also includes calling around and going on the internet and social media to find out about individuals, Garner noted. Members of the community will do this, so should the board.
Also to consider:
• What are the challenges your school district is facing?
• What are the external threats?
• What are the up-comng projects or challenges?
• What would be the characteristics of the individual who could guide you through these things?
Garner directed the board to look far down the road.
What you are going to do is come up with a list of things and give the most points to what you value most, and subtract points for concerns or red flags.
As long as you give some points to veterans, disabled veterans or spouses of deceased veterans and consider that with other criteria you have complied with the Veteran's Preference Law, Garner concluded.