MUSD begins hunt for next superintendent

The Maricopa Unified School District will vote to kick-off the process for its superintendent search Wednesday night.

The MUSD Human Resources Department could receive a green light from the school board during a scheduled meeting to research various methods for finding its top new administrator. Current Superintendent Steve Chestnut’s contract will end June 30 after the board voted unanimously in September to not approve an additional contract through 2020.

The new superintendent’s contract would be negotiated, but the finalist must begin work at the district by July 1, 2018.

MUSD School Board President Patti Coutré said search methods HR will consider include the district’s internal HR department, the governing board, a local search firm, the Arizona School Board Association and a national search firm.

“We want (the HR department) to gather all that information and give us the pros and the cons, and then the board will deliberate with that information to decide what direction we want to go with,” Coutré said.

The board hopes to use information compiled by HR for deliberation with its attorney during a private meeting Nov. 8., followed by “direction in open session.”

Coutré said the public and district stakeholders will have opportunities to submit their input throughout the process.

“A lot of this stuff will take place in executive session because of the fact that it’s personnel (related), but we will do as much in open session as is allowed so that we have that transparency factor,” Coutré said.

The district previously used a national search firm prior to hiring Chestnut.

Coutré said the board hopes to have a job description available for applicants by December. In the past, stakeholders had a say in who they would like to see manage the district.

“When we did this with Dr. Chestnut, we actually had various focus groups meet with our finalists, and then they gave feedback back to the board,” Coutre said. “There is going to be plenty of opportunity to get community input throughout this whole process; we just haven’t defined that yet because a lot of that will be determined by what method we go with.”

In September, the board learned Chestnut was once again a finalist for a position at another district. Chestnut has expressed his desire to manage a large district and has since announced his candidacy in a few other districts.

His most recent prospect at Gilbert Public Schools went to another candidate.

Coutré said she doesn’t believe the board would offer another contract to Chestnut in the future, citing “philosophical differences” between the board and Chestnut.

“Dr. Chestnut is an amazing superintendent and he wants to be a superintendent for a larger school district and I think he’s going to achieve that because he is who he is. He’s a great guy,” Coutré said.

Although the board hasn’t voted on the specifics yet, Coutré said they will likely look for a candidate who is collaborative, exudes leadership and transparency, and a desire to build relationships with stakeholders.

“A lot of those qualities that Dr. Chestnut possessed is what we will continue to look for in a superintendent – the board still has to meet to decide – but I can’t imagine us looking for anything other than we want to find a leader that is going to continue our pursuit to become an A-district, and that’s what we will continue to look for,” Coutré said.