After nearly a thousand responses to a public survey, the results are in and the community is all but entirely united in what they want in the next Limestone County Schools superintendent — someone who has teaching experience, can improve morale and can keep quality staff.

Karen DeLano, who recently retired as superintendent of the Auburn City Schools system, presented the findings at Tuesday’s meeting of the Limestone County Board of Education on behalf of the Alabama Association of School Boards.

“It’s quantitative data, but it’s not necessarily scientific,” she told board members. “But, it’s information and it’s good for you to analyze and consider as you start setting up your questions for your interviews.”

DeLano first presented how answers in various categories were ranked among all respondents, then broke it down into responses from each of four groups. There were 956 respondents total, which DeLano called an “excellent number.”

Respondents were asked to identify themselves as a parent, student, employee or resident. Employees made up the largest group with 394, followed by 298 parents with a student in a public school, 110 residents, 55 students, and seven parents with a student in a private school or who home-schooled. Ninety-two did not identify themselves.

Recruit, retain

When asked where it was most important for a potential superintendent to have successful experience, respondents ranked “recruiting/retaining quality staff” and “effectively leading well-performing staff” in the top two spots. “Securing additional funding” and “increasing achievement for all students” tied for third, with “building public confidence in the school system” just one-hundredth of a point behind.

Students varied slightly from the list, saying they valued most someone who can work with people in a diverse educational environment and can increase the graduation rate.

Teachers are No. 1

Respondents ranked experience as a teacher as most important, giving it an average 4.6 rating out of 5. Experience as a principal was second-most important at 4.44.

Employees put more importance on this skill than other subgroups did. They gave teaching experience an average 4.82, while principal experience earned a 4.69.

Across the board, experience in business or private enterprise ranked lowest.

What’s up, doc?

It turns out most respondents don’t care if the next superintendent has a doctorate, but 72% do think they should have a master’s degree.

When broken down further, the survey revealed 20% of parents, 19% of employees and 18% of residents didn’t think the next superintendent should have a doctorate.

In-house hiring

Fewer than one-fifth of respondents wanted their next superintendent to be someone from outside the system. Thirty-eight percent wanted someone from inside the system, but the top spot went to the 42% of respondents who said they didn’t have a preference.

Almost half of employees who answered the survey said they want an employee to be given the job. Nearly 1 in 3 students said they wanted someone new.

Challenges ahead

When asked which district challenges were most important or significant, respondents ranked “improving employee morale,” “recruiting/retaining talented employees” and “operating within LCS’ limited resources” in the top three spots, respectively. “Expanding the career tech program” and “expanding communication with stakeholders” were at the bottom of the list.

However, it seems parents, students and residents agree increasing accountability in the system should be a priority. Employees ranked it eighth of the 13 options listed.

Focus

When asked which qualities were most important in the next superintendent, respondents overall said they should be student-focused, have leadership ability and be a successful educator.

However, the student subgroup had a different ranking in mind. Only 2% ranked “successful educator” as a top trait, while “collaborative” got the third-place spot among 13 total.

Residents also strayed from the average, putting accountability in the top 3 and leadership ability in the fourth spot.

“Articulate,” “empowering” and “comfortable with diversity” were among the lowest ranked qualities.

Where to next?

Before reading the next results, DeLano paused to say in which direction respondents felt the district is headed.

“What I believe you will see when you look at these different categories of responses is how many responded neutral to this,” she said. “I’m not supposed to analyze that for you, but I think you need to consider what may be the reasons that they’re neutral about it.”

Only 32% of overall respondents believe the school system is headed in the right direction. Forty-three percent said they don’t think it is headed in a right or wrong direction, while 25% said wrong.

That last number grew among students, with 80% saying they had no opinion or believe it is going in the wrong direction. Meanwhile, 40% of employees believe the district is headed in the right direction.

So what now?

DeLano said applications for the next superintendent will be accepted through Dec. 16. After that, applicants will be vetted by the AASB, who will provide board members with a list of five names in January. The five candidates will be interviewed publicly.

DeLano said AASB can provide questions that have been tailored to the board’s specific needs or situation, and she advised the board to distribute those questions to candidates before the interview.

“Since the interviews must be in public, the first two candidates get asked the same questions, and the last three are at an advantage,” DeLano said.

She clarified followup questions do not have to be provided beforehand.

Visit https://bit.ly/LCBOEagenda and follow the link for the Nov. 12 meeting to read the survey report in its entirety.