Des Moines School Board to select next superintendent behind closed doors

The Des Moines School Board will not announce the finalist for the district's next superintendent until it concludes its months-long search process later this spring — out of the public's sight.

The board decided to close the recruiting process to find the best candidate, School Board Chair Teree Caldwell-Johnson said during Monday's State of the Schools event. The plan is to release the lone finalist’s name at the end of the search.

Names of other finalists or semifinalists won't be released, Caldwell-Johnson said after the meeting.

The decision to close the selection process was reviewed by the district's legal counsel.

"The board will be walking a very fine line to balance the competitive hiring practices and job candidates' desire for privacy against the public interest and even the law," she said during the meeting attended by the public and staff.

The superintendent is a public official, with candidates often undergoing immense public scrutiny during the interview process.

“We want people who are willing to be a part of the public process, but we don't want that to in any way interfere with our ability to attract the best and the brightest to the opportunity,” she said after the event.

Closing the superintendent vetting process is a growing trend across the country, she said. Most recently, the Cedar Rapids Community School District hired Superintendent Tawana Grover through a closed process.

Closing superintendent searches is becoming the norm across the country, particularly in larger school districts, said Dan Domenech, executive director of AASA, the national school superintendents association.

"Districts are looking more and more to doing these closed searches as a way of attracting the best candidates and giving them the opportunity to hire the best candidates," Domenech said.

Additionally, people who are applying for a superintendent position are drawn to closed searches because they are less likely to endanger their current jobs if they are not hired, he said.

Related:Laura Kacer stepping down as Johnston superintendent at the end of the school year

The school board launched its search to replace former, long-time Superintendent Tom Ahart in October. Ahart, who resigned in February 2022, left at the end of the 2021-22 school year.

He had been under fire because of district officials' COVID-19 pandemic response and also received a written reprimand from the Board of Educational Examiners for keeping students online at the start of the 2020-21 school year despite a state law requiring school districts to offer a 50% in-person learning option.

The board subsequently selected then-Associate Superintendent Matt Smith to serve in the interim superintendent role.

The public input received during several community meetings helped create the candidate profile used by the district’s superintendent search firm, the Texas-based JG Consulting, Caldwell-Johnson said during the event.

The school board is currently accepting applications and plans to begin vetting candidates in mid-February.

A new superintendent is slated to start July 1, according to the school board’s superintendent search timeline.

Samantha Hernandez covers education for the Register. Reach her at (515) 851-0982 or svhernandez@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines School Board to vet next superintendent behind closed doors