Commentary: The search for a BPS superintendent: Are we headed to the edge of a cliff?

The search for a new superintendent for the Boston Public Schools (BPS) started on March 2 with a decision by the Boston School Committee (BSC) to hire a firm to do the searching, which is supposed to happen by early April. The timeline for the eventual hiring of a new BPS leader states that the BSC will sign up the new head of schools by the end of June, so that he or she presumably will be at the helm over the critical summer months beginning on July 1.

Having been part of many searches for high level positions, we think the timeline is unrealistic. The BSC needs to have a Plan B – unless there is an internal candidate who has already been groomed and selected by the mayor and chair of the school committee.

As pointed out in the podcast “Last Night at the Boston School Committee,” searches for superintendent typically begin with an articulated vision outlined by the committee, which then hires someone who can implement it. But at the March 2 school committee meeting, these elements were not discussed. Instead, the panel announced, without articulating goals, a three-month window to hire someone to oversee a system with a billion-dollar budget.

The latest debacle – preventing BPS student athletes from competing due to a school official’s failure to submit paperwork on time – is a red flag of the operational dysfunction facing the district as it emerges from the pandemic. Will the state put the school district into receivership as is currently under serious consideration? BPS has serious issues that need resolution before a search begins.

Despite Wu’s view that there won’t be a problem recruiting candidates because “Boston is and will remain one of the most exciting places to work in public education in the country,” there are other factors that could work against a successful search in the compressed timeline. We assume that prospective outstanding candidates will be considering the following:

• A 2024 Fiscal Cliff. For the coming year, the district will be awash in cash from federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding, but in 2024, those dollars vanish. Tough financial decisions will have to be made after that money disappears. That fiscal cliff will present major issues that should affect present and future decisions on the annual budget.

• “Build BPS” is mostly a wish list, not a pragmatic plan with mayoral and civic backing tied to major building projects in the Massachusetts School Building Authority pipeline. The pandemic highlighted what students and teachers inside schools already knew: Many buildings are aged, and in dire need of repair or replacement.

• BPS is losing administrative staff and school principals at an alarming rate. Last week, seven principals gave their notices and more are expected to do the same. Recruiting and hiring strong, capable principals will determine the success or failure of each school. Is Dr. Cassellius responsible for these critical hiring decisions, or will they be up to the yet-to-be-hired superintendent?

• What are the priorities, goals, and vision the superintendent will be charged with implementing?

• Who is my boss? If there is a move to an elected or hybrid school committee, those hiring the superintendent will be a different group from those evaluating and holding the system’s leader accountable. To what degree will the mayor flex her muscle to be the superintendent’s boss if there is a committee made up of municipal and appointed members? And if entirely elected, what role will the mayor play in hiring and overseeing the superintendent? Why would someone want a job where, 18 months after being hired, the position will likely have a different group of bosses, goals, priorities, and visions?

• The School Committee bought out the contracts of the two most recent superintendents, each of whom lasted two years. Neither had prior experience in Boston, nor had they run a big city school system. Overall, we have had five superintendents in the last seven years. Wouldn’t this recent history give a prospective candidate pause?

• BPS enrollment is shrinking, not growing, and most of the system’s school-based facilities beg attention. No one wants to touch school building closings, but with a 14 percent drop in enrollment (there are at least 8,000 fewer students in BPS since 2013), combined with the derelict state of many facilities, some schools are going to have to be closed. An added note: While enrollment has plummeted in recent years, nearly 1,000 new positions were added to the BPS payroll.

• The achievement gap has widened. An all hands-on-deck push is needed here, but with the pressing operational issues, will curriculum and instruction get their due?

• How realistic is it for the new leader to assume immediate administration on July 1? Summers are when crucial hiring decisions are made, and when issues like building repairs, transportation systems, and a million other critical matters demand attention to ensure a smooth opening in August.

• BPS has a credibility gap. The Boston Globe reported on its artificially inflated graduation rate, for example. Are other BPS data reliable? As a prospective candidate considers applying, where should the individual look for rock solid statistics?

So, the BPS is not at its best at this moment. What’s Plan B?

We propose an empowered interim leadership model until such time as a new school committee has been elected, or constituted in a hybrid form, or when the system is moved under the direct control of the mayor. With a stable interim leadership in place, those in charge can undertake a thorough national search for a superintendent consistent with goals, priorities ,and vision they have articulated.

The interim leadership model would include a triumvirate: an academic leader, a systems operational leader, and a Build BPS leader. The trio would work on short and long-term problems simultaneously with the authority to make hard decisions. The first order of business should be a thorough audit of positions and facilities, with an eye toward supporting green infrastructure in transportation and facilities. The 2024 superintendent would come in after tough decisions about school closures have been made and implemented.

In other words, the new superintendent would assume leadership of a district that has been right sized for its enrollment in alignment with the strategic vision and priorities of whomever the superintendent will report to.

While it’s possible that the perfect candidate will be presented quickly and be available immediately, that’s a long shot. It’s best if we develop a Plan B.

Bill Walczak is a Reporter columnist. He and Meg Campbell are married and residents of Dorchester. Bill is the founding president and former CEO of the Codman Square Health Center. He is a co-founder of Codman Academy and the Edward Kennedy Health Careers Academy, and chair of the board of Bunker Hill Community College. Meg is a former Boston School Committee member, a lecturer at Harvard Graduate School of Education, and co-founder of Boston Women’s Heritage Trail and Codman Academy Charter Public School.


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