Looking for a new leader

Hewlett-Woodmere has begun the search for a replacement for Superintendent Joyce Bisso, who announced her retirement at a school board meeting in July. The new hire would start next July 1.
District Wise Search Consultants, a Woodbury-based firm, was hired by the school district to help with the search. According to the company’s website, co-founders Joann Kaplan and Bob Freier have “a combined 40 years in staffing and education …”
Hewlett-Woodmere had put out a request for proposals for superintendent search firms, and DWSC was among the firms that responded. “After interviewing several of the responders, we felt that DWSC had the best understanding of what we were looking for from the process,” Board of Education President Scott McInnes said.
“Being former board members themselves,” he added, “they understood how important it was for us to put together a comprehensive profile of what the entire community was looking for in the next superintendent and then find the candidates who best fit that profile. We have been extremely happy with their approach, and the feedback from both staff and community members has been wonderful.”
Freier is an East Williston Union Free School District board trustee, and Kaplan previously served on that board.

DWSC is in the process of gathering input from the community — a meeting took place on Dec. 2, and another was scheduled at the Center for Adult Life Enrichment on Dec. 10. The firm plans to complete a superintendent profile by the end of this month.
“I came tonight to find out what the process was in hiring the new superintendent,” said Christie, who declined to give her last name, at the Dec. 2 meeting, which attracted just 17 people. “Previously it’s been salary-driven. I enjoyed hearing about this new process. I do find it sad that only a few people came to hear about this or come to any of these types of meetings, and yet complain when the results aren’t what they want.”
The district has set a deadline of Jan. 15 for job applications to be submitted. At the beginning of February, DWSC will present its short list of candidates to the Hewlett-Woodmere board. Interviews will be scheduled, and the board expects to have a new superintendent by May. “We ask from very standard to the most specific questions that help us to help you find the ideal candidate,” Kaplan said. “If there’s five candidates, we will present five; or if there are three, then three. There is no set number of eligible candidates to present to the board.”
The position has also been listed in the employment sections of education publications such as Education Week, as well as on the New York State School Boards Association’s website.
“We have not excluded any sources for candidates,” McInnes said. “We are, however, very cognizant of the idiosyncrasies of education law and regulation in New York state, so it is important to us that the candidates are well prepared to deal with the issues facing public education in New York and on Long Island.”
Freier said that many candidates who end up being selected are those already working in school districts. “The great majority of the time,” he told residents on Dec. 2, “the best candidates are those who aren’t even looking.”
McInnes emphasized how important it was for the board to get input from community members on the qualities they want in the next superintendent. “As a board, we are very cognizant of our role as representatives of the community,” he said. “That means we need to know what they want if we are going to try and find it for them.”
Opinions on the superintendent profile can be emailed to hwps@districtwisesearch.com or mailed to District Wise Search Consultants, 217 Woodbury Road, No. 183, Woodbury, N.Y. 11797.

Have an opinion about the superintendent search? Send your letter to the editor to jbessen@liherald.com.