Columbus Leaders Offer Advice on Search

By Harry Franklin, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Ga.

Jan. 26–Over the years, the searches for Muscogee County School District superintendents have been conducted internally, externally and in a combination of each.

With the announcement that Superintendent John A. Phillips Jr. will retire this summer, the school board has a number of options to consider: The board could conduct its own search.

Hire an outside firm to handle the search process initially and recommend a pool of candidates.

Initially look at potential candidates in the school system.

Expand it to a regional or national search.

Select an acting or interim superintendent until they have time to conduct a thorough search.

Local leaders contacted Friday had various opinions of how to conduct the search, but they all agreed on one thing: it is crucial that the right person has experience in a school system of similar size and demographics and can fit into the diverse, local community.

Here are some of the comments they shared: Mary Sue Polleys, former board member and chair who served 13 years on the Muscogee County School Board: “I think this is going to have to be their call.

“They are elected to do this job. People elected and serving really do have insight and knowledge that people outside don’t have.

“When we hired Dr. Phillips, we did an external and internal search. We did feel we had strong candidates and did a limited search inside first…. The only time we moved to external search was after Guy Sims retired and we hired Dr. Phillips. I would not have any problem with either method.”

Karl Douglass, business consultant: “The fact he’s (Phillips) going to stay to the end of the school year adds to continuity in the school system. A thought might be to find someone who could serve as interim for the next year while you do an exhaustive search. Find someone who’s available, accessible, who could take over on an interim capacity up to a year. You could do an exhaustive national search trying to find the best superintendent available. I think all qualified candidates should be considered.

“It’s very important to find the right person. Public education is central to all communities. The school superintendent is an important matter,” he said.

Frank Etheridge, president of SunTrust Bank, Columbus: “I think you always look at your own people first. But more importantly, we are of such a size, if I were on the board, I would consider hiring a search firm that works with school systems that has a good reputation that would do a national or regional search. They would give the search firm parameters: similar school systems with similar demographics, per capita income, employment. Find a school system similar to Columbus, maybe slightly smaller for a promotion. Look for those most successful.

“I think this is extremely important. I think everybody is extremely disappointed the superintendent resigned. We all know the system has been subject to a lot of criticism lately. We need someone the whole community can rally behind and feel positive about. You also want to include as many people in the community in that interview process with the candidates, so it’s a fit. The school board can tend to judge qualifications. Bring in all aspects of the community to interview the candidate and make sure he fits well in the community…. You probably will have to have an interim. Look at a past superintendent or someone internally. We have a good administration below the top two. The school system is not going to suffer. We have issues with growth and BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure Commission).”

The Rev. J.H. Flakes, pastor of Fourth Street Missionary Baptist Church: “It seems to me that would be an open search. They would have a group do a superintendent search and let them send recommendations, and also not close it to local applicants who want to apply… I do think we have persons in the school district in positions that could very well serve as superintendent. It puts the school board and administration in a difficult position because it happened so abruptly. A superintendent has got to represent the district fairly and squarely so everybody will be treated equal.”

Steve Melton, president of Columbus Bank & Trust: “It’s one of the most important jobs in Muscogee County. It breaks my heart that we lost John Phillips. He’s a great man. He’s so underappreciated for what he did. John Phillips was exactly what we needed. He was getting results. I guess you would do at least a search in the Southeast. I would expect they would open it up. I don’t have any experience with superintendent searches.

“They have a big and important job. Our public school system is one of our strengths in Columbus. If you look at utilization of our public schools, it’s quite high compared with other communities. I hope they (the board) can come together and move forward.”

Frank Brown, president of Columbus State University: “I’m sure the board will be very deliberate in its search and lay out the criteria they want candidates to match. I expect they will provide opportunity for the community to meet with candidates and voice their comments on the candidates. We wish them great luck. It’s a very important decision.”

Jack Basset, retired businessman: “A nationwide search, if we’re competitive; if we’re not, get competitive and go nationwide with the search. I’m absolutely not opposed to considering local candidates. I wouldn’t place any limits. I would probably hire a firm that does that sort of thing. Let them recommend a pool of candidates.

“I think it’s absolutely critical that we find the best candidate available. You don’t want the board of education running the school system. What you want is board members representing the community. Their job is not to be education professionals, but to represent the community. It’s really the superintendent that guides the quality of education we provide…. I’m not surprised that he’s retiring. He’s got a mixture of attitudes among that board. As long as he had semi-full support, he was good to go. But life’s short.”

Teresa Tomlinson, lawyer and executive director of MidTown Inc.: “It’s always a turmoil when they lose a civic leader like that. He was always very professional, reasonable and intelligent. I think very highly of him. We just have to take this disappointing news and just try to get us the finest school superintendent available. The community deserves it.

“The state of our schools is critical to our city’s economic development. They really are interrelated. Their missions are interrelated. Having never participated in a search, my gut feeling is to open as broad a search as possible, but include looking to local people who are familiar with our system and could take up the mantle. I don’t think it should exclude anybody. I know we have some very capable people.”

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