Superintendent of Schools will be voted on Thursday, April 3rd.
>> Related: Evan Bishop: Guiding Hopkinton Schools Into the Future
Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like the Superintendent of the Hopkinton Public Schools position is a big deal. Every resident should value how our high-performing school district is directly linked to the increasing value of the money we’ve invested to live here (let’s not talk about our taxes, though).
While this will likely be debated, the information to watch the finalists’ interviews and give feedback was not easy to find. Save the debate and use the time to watch the interviews and give your feedback, as it could just be me that had the challenge.
I thought I’d find this important info on our Town’s website. I didn’t. Of course, this would be in our Town Manager’s Weekly Update, right? It wasn’t. When the Superintendent’s Blog came out today, I looked there, too (I mean, she’s retiring and is obviously aware we are in the process of hiring for this position!) Nope, no mention.
Knowing HCAM covers everything, I visited their YouTube channel and found the interviews. Thank you, HCAM — really, for everything you cover. I recommend 1.25 or 1.5 speed for the interviews. Trust me.
My hope is that our community (you know — you, me, the residents that VOTE to elect these board members) have a voice and are heard (other than just when the election rolls around).
On a side note, how much did we pay a professional search agency for this? It was surprising that one of three finalists dropped out. I would have expected a stronger vetting process so that wouldn’t have happened, but I could be wrong, as I’ve never worked for a search company.
This didn’t affect my personal opinion (expressed in my survey submission), but it affects where my money, and yours, is spent — meaning the taxes we aren’t going to talk about. Did we really need to pay an outside agency? Again, I hesitate to answer, but will – no, I say we did not.
Karen Crum
Hopkinton
Editor’s Note: The views expressed in this letter are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of HopNews. Letters may be edited for clarity, grammar, and length.
Agree with your points here. I only saw information about the interviews when it was published in The Independent on April 1st. When I clicked on feedback links provided on the HPS website, they are no longer accepting submissions. The fee for the consultants was about 16K, which was the highest among the available options presented to the SC. It does seem like a waste of taxpayer money to end up with only 2 viable candidates- especially considering one is internal.
I completely agree, this was an excessive amount of money spent with little return on investment. The ‘think tank’ sessions for parents were an absolute failure. The facilitator sent to lead the session had no understanding of the Hopkinton community, which made the entire process feel disconnected and ineffective. Instead of utilizing modern tools like technology and AI to gather and analyze ideas efficiently, they insisted on using Sharpies and paper, which was not only inefficient but also outdated. This approach failed to harness the potential of more effective data collection methods, which could have been invaluable for sharing insights with the community.
The 4:30 pm meet-and-greet session with the 2 candidates was poorly timed and seemed to be set up without considering the realities of most parents’ schedules. Many parents are either working during that time or busy shuttling their kids to after-school activities, making it difficult to attend. On top of that, there was no Zoom or virtual option for those who couldn’t be there in person, which further alienated families who wanted to engage but couldn’t make it to the in-person event.
This entire process has been a complete mess, and unfortunately, this outcome wasn’t surprising considering Nancy Cavanaugh is leading the committee. It feels like we’re stuck in a cycle of the same old ideas with no real innovation or forward-thinking solutions. We need a change in leadership—it’s time for Nancy to step aside and make room for fresh perspectives and new approaches that can actually benefit our community. The lack of progress and failure to adapt to modern needs is holding us back, and it’s time for new leadership to take charge.
The town paid a search firm $16K to identify a new Superintendent. If the projected hire has a base salary over $200K, then a $16K fee is less than 8%. As a long time search professional, I would never undertake a project for an 8% fee. Also, the search firm should provide a list of candidates they qualified, presented, passed on, or held for future consideration. Also it looks like NESDEC relied on online applications. Did they actually conduct a search….meaning reaching out to target candidates who may or may not be looking for a new role? Has anyone asked for their research on who they targeted?
FYI.. search fees for most leadership searches in both profit and non-profits segments is 20% and higher.
For those who were not able to provide feedback through the survey the search firm created, the School Committee always welcomes feedback via email and I know I will likely be checking my email right up until just before our 6:45 PM meeting start time tonight. They closed the feedback link so they could get the information and raw data to us yesterday (survey had about 350-400 responses so the time to read through each one carefully was appreciated). If you want to share your feedback today, please send to HPSSchoolCommittee@hopkinton.k12.ma.us.
To address the question of whether an actual search was conducted, here is the language directly from the contract between NESDEC (search firm) and the School Committee on the scope of the search itself and on who and where information on the application would specifically be targeted:
“• Superintendents, assistant superintendents and job-related personnel in
Massachusetts
• Member communities of the New England School Development Council
• Superintendents, assistant superintendents, and job-related personnel in selected school districts throughout New England, New York, New Jersey and
Pennsylvania with characteristics similar to Hopkinton
• SchoolSpring: online, national advertisement, 30 days
• Top School Jobs (the online advertising service of Education Week): national
advertisement, 30 days
• American Association of School Administrators (AASA) website Job Bulletin:
online, national announcement, 30 days
• School Leadership 2.0 (SL20) website School Leadership Jobs: online, regional
announcement, 40 days
• NESDEC routinely posts vacancies on targeted diversity websites, including: the
NABSE (National Alliance of Black School Educators) Career Center, ALAS
(Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents), and TalentAlly
(formerly Professional Diversity Network)
• NESDEC will place announcements in assorted superintendent/school board
association websites
• NESDEC prepares a customized email blast campaign of the vacancy and sends it at
strategic points in the recruitment process to:
• member communities of the New England School Development Council
• superintendents, assistant superintendents, and job-related personnel in
Massachusetts
• selected New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania superintendents
and job-related personnel in school districts with similar characteristics to
Hopkinton
• Executive Directors of study councils affiliated with the National School
Development Council (NSDC)
• Placement offices of colleges and universities throughout the nation that prepare school administrators
• Selected educational leadership professors throughout New England
• Officers of the Suburban School Superintendents (National)
2
• Selected Executive Directors of state superintendent and school board
associations in the United States
REGIONAL AND NATIONAL RECRUITMENT OF CANDIDATES
Using its proprietary network, NESDEC recruits at the state, regional and national levels.
Although NESDEC is a nationally recognized search firm, our national reach is further
enhanced through our association with the National School Development Council
(NSDC).
NESDEC actively recruits candidates for the position from its network of educational
leaders representing school study councils nationwide, urban and suburban school
superintendents, professors of educational administration and national professional
associations”
There was some consideration of whether or not we could do this in house this time around even though historically a consultant has always been used. Timing wise, we had a new HR Director starting just as we were beginning this process, and she is a key member of the negotiating team for the 3 collective bargaining contracts we have been negotiating while this search has been going on.
Lots of advertising. Do they provide a detailed list of who they vetted for consideration? That’s what real search firms do.