Just what is important to the community? That’s the question Michigan Leadership Workshop will try to answer before the Lake Orion School District starts their search for a new superintendent.
After hearing presentations from two companies offering to be their assessment facilitator for the new superintendent search, the school board hired Michigan Leadership Workshop last week at a cost of approximately $2,000.
In the coming weeks, Michigan Leadership Workshop will set up a date (or dates) to speak with various stakeholders in the district, such as educational organizations, staff, government leaders, etc., and will develop the set of skills the community feels is necessary for Lake Orion’s next superintendent.
‘You’ve got a daunting challenge,? Michigan Leadership Workshop’s Dr. Michael Wilmot told the board about selecting the next superintendent. ‘This is the most important thing you are going to do as a board.?
Wilmot said that an outside source is more likely to get ‘honest? answers from community members as opposed to board members trying to collect these opinions. He added it is important for your ‘stakeholders? to feel invested in the future success of the district.
Michigan Leadership Workshop will ask various groups what they consider the ‘points of pride? of the district and what unique skills they feel the new superintendent needs to be successful. Every comment will be written down and a set of skills will be compiled and given to the board, which will, in turn, be used as a guideline in their search.
The Michigan Leadership Workshop will, at an additional cost, complete the search for the district should they choose to have an outside firm as their coordinator. The board said they were only interested in the community assessment as this time.
The board also heard a presentation from the Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB), and while their service was approximately $500 less expensive than Michigan Leadership Workshop, a majority of the board felt more comfortable with the services offered by Michigan Leadership Workshop.
‘We didn’t get a full sense of the time (MASB would need),? said board Vice President Mary Jo Burchart. ?(Wilmot) gave us a little more detail? (it) seems a little more controlled.?
The school board will await the results from the community assessment before moving on in the superintendent search.
‘It’s not over by any means,? board President Jim Weidman said, thanking his fellow board members for all the work that has already been done on the process, ‘but we’ve continued to move forward on it.?
Stay with The Review as the superintendent search continues to progress.