001[Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Good evening everybody. Welcome to this special meeting uh of the board of school trustees. Call into order. Uh let the record show that all four board members, four board members are present. Miss Amy Cinder is not able to be here. Uh let's stand for the pledge of allegiance to the flag. United States of America. Item 1.4, public comment information. We currently offer two ways in which the community can participate in regular school board meetings. The first public comment section on the agenda is for addressing current action items that are on tonight's agenda. These comments must be submitted by noon on the day of the meeting. The procedures for submission are posted on our website under board of school trustees. The second public comment section is for general comments
002and does not have to be specific to an agenda topic. If you wish to address the board during the general public comments section of the meeting, please put your name and topic on a card and give to Deb Hayes at the start of the meeting. All public comments are limited to three minutes per individual with a total of 30 minutes allotted for each public comment section on the agenda. Uh item two, public comments. Deborah, are there? Thank you. Item three, approval of an executive search firm to assist the board. Um, Miss Kristen Smith is our chairperson for our superintendent search. So, I'm going to yield to you, Miss Smith. Thank you. Do you mind with my PowerPoint? PowerPoint. Here it comes. Thank you. On behalf of our school board, we met a week ago to
003take our next steps in hiring a new superintendent. As a result, we agreed we needed to move forward with a superintendent search via hiring a third party to assist us with that search. At such time, we also discussed how we would proceed in terms of time frame. We have multiple time frames in order to um fill this search due to the time of year in which um we accepted Dr. Heler's resignation. We have a time frame in which we would like somebody as soon as possible to be here before Dr. Heler leaves which we recognize will may not be possible. We also have potentially starting by the beginning of the school year and then our last opportunity we would hope would be by Christmas time. These are seeming to be the three windows of time.
004In addition to that, we discussed the potential of hiring an interim superintendent in such time that if we do not find a qualified candidate, we feel it's very important that we wait until we find the right candidate versus just filling the position. So we also will be simultaneously conducting an interim search even though at such time we are unsure if we will need an interim just due to the fact that we may find our ideal candidate within this six week search and or a long lengthier search. It depends on how this will unfold. With that said, we agreed that we had reached out to at least three firms to do our due diligence in reviewing and finding a new superintendent for the school district of Monster. In the previous search that was conducted for Dr.
005Heler, there were two pieces of um information that were created as part of this search that were done with great care and with our community involved, which was our survey that was done via our community and the results that were um gathered in terms of looking at what can what qualities do we want in a superintendent. If I could um can I can I do this or you have to do it? Sorry. So, um, as part of that, we looked at, um, these are some of the highlights that came from that initial survey that was done. So, we as a board looked at all of these items. Go on to the next one. Um, overall strengths and we felt that this still reflected our ideal candidate in terms of our superintendent. In addition, we looked
006at some of our challenges in hiring a new superintendent. Attracting and retaining or challenges that we knew were important that our district is facing. Attracting and retaining top talent, offering competitive compensation package and benefits and responding to shifting student demographics. In addition to that, we also noted with the three firms that we spoke to about the changing landscape in Indiana in terms of support of public education. As many of you know, um a legislation was recently passed that will um reduce our ability to or incoming funds by up to $3 million. Am I correct in stating that? If not more. So obviously that is a larger concern in hiring a superintendent that we may not be as attractive district to possibly an out ofstate candidate as well as or instate candidate. In addition, we have
007addressing facility demands and growth within our district. Although we have made huge strides with the help of Dr. Heler and Sean and others of our staff members here at School Town of Monster in terms of updating all of our schools, ensuring they are safe, um ensuring we have top-notch facilities. We are also continuing to progress in terms of looking at a multi-use facility, the updates we made to the baseball field. We have forthcoming a parking lot in that area as well as movement of the tennis courts. So we have a number of projects that are either in process or will be forthcoming. So we wanted to ensure that that was also identified as a key area in our strength of our superintendent. Expanding opportunities for student success. As many of you already know, Dr. Heler
008has created numerous initiatives that we would like to see continued as a district. our profile of a graduate, the um engagement that he's made at the ed elementary level, Wilbur Wright and the high school in terms of the student government and his output and connection to our students. We want to ensure that that is continued and that we move that forward. We don't want to reinvent that. We feel it is very strong. Internal communication systems, one of the strengths Dr. Heler has brought to the table over the years is consistency among our schools as well as communication among our administrative leads. So we'd like to see that again continued and grow grow and that has been a strength of Dr. Heler that he has brought to our district as well. You can go ahead. Thank
009you. Um, in addition, we also highlighted personal skills that we'd like to see our next superintendent continue. And this was all part of the work previously done by BWP. That was the firm that we hired last time for the search of Dr. Heler, which was approximately three years ago. We all felt very strongly these items have not changed. This is also from handover research from the strategic plan. So that was a whole another survey, a separate survey that was all integrated as part of this. In addition, a second piece that was created with the help of BWP and our um past and some of our present board members was our leadership profile. These two significant pieces were costly and we agreed as a board that we did not want to redo this work since it
010only has been three years. with the addition of the acknowledgement of the state of lack of support to our for public education in Indiana. We did want to note that um and there are also some other items as we continue to move forward in this prog process that I'm sure that we will be adding. But overall, we felt the leadership profile was current. It met our current needs as well as our future needs. And we were all very happy with Dr. Heler in terms of how he exemplified these leadership characteristics and since we are very happy with that, we'd like to see that continued with the next superintendent and continue to grow in that direction. As a result, we met with three firms. We reached out to them. Um BWP was the firm that was
011utilized with Dr. Heler. So we went back to them because it was it's only been three years since we worked with them last and we felt that they did a phenomenal job with the hiring of Dr. Heler. So that was clearly one company we felt very very um comfortable as well as felt that they were very u much a partner with school town of monster in continuing to help support us and our future. Um we also met with Hazard um which is a company in Illinois um that has ex exemplary reputation as well as ability for a national search and then we also met with university search. University search assisted us in hiring Dr. Hris numerous years ago. So we felt it was important to also reach out to that resource as well. Um, so
012Ingred and myself had numerous calls with these companies to determine who be best fit our needs, who met our timeline, who understood the needs of our district, who would also be supportive of us reusing our profile of our leader as well as our survey information because again, we wanted to be transparent. We wanted to ensure cost effectiveness in a search since our last search was only conducted three years ago. And also we wanted to ensure a firm that would work cooperatively with all of us and meet our ongoing needs in our district. With that said, we held the phone calls as I mentioned to do a preliminary review at each of these companies. And as you see, sorry if you go back one. Sorry, I'm sorry I didn't go there. Um we I put a
013highlevel um preview together of cost whether they could assist with an interim search a permanent search if they could meet our timeline or not who would be working with us as well as what the company's potential reach was whether local um Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio or whether it was a national search. As a result of all of that work and looking at next our timeline, my recommendation this evening would be to work with again BWP as we feel they meet our current and ongoing needs. Not only due to the cost effectiveness of their proposal, but also recognizing they understand where we're at in terms of a time is of the essence on one hand, but we're also willing to wait on the other hand. So finding the right candidate have an ongoing um rolling start
014time so that if we find a candidate that we may not be able to hire until a certain date, we are willing to wait. As a result, we feel it's important to then have an interim person in place if needed to fulfill um the needs of our district and continue to move forward. Can I answer any questions at this time? Well, I just wanted to um first thank Kyle for his leadership because when this went down with Dr. Heler last we knew it was happening Wednesday night. We found out Tuesday. Kyle's like we got to meet right away and the soonest we could meet legally was 48 hours later. Kyle made us get a meeting to so we have such a jump start on this that we wouldn't have had because we were supposed to
015meet this week. So thank you Kyle for calling that audible. Um, Kristen, I want to thank you for volunteering as chair. It takes an incredible amount of time, a lot of energy in the search process, so we appreciate that. And I know you spent a lot of time on these interviews. I also really want to thank these three search firms because for us to call and say, "We need to meet with you ASAP. Are you available for Zoom? Can you get us a proposal?" I mean, every one of these groups on the fly gave us all the information we need to help us make a decision tonight. and and I think any one of them would do a very good job for us. Just depends on what we're looking for. Um my opinions on some
016of the separate companies and I hope we're all going to do this. Um the UN University Search team has a great reputation in Indiana. Um they've been doing this for 60 years. They know Indiana. They know our legislative issues. Um and their price is right because it's free. It's travel expenses only. Um and they did find Dr. Hendricks for us back in 2014. uh but they do only look in state and I personally feel like I like the national search. I I think we deserve to see all the all possible candidates as far as I call them HYA associates um uh which I think she had listed as Hazard. Um very experienced. They also have a huge national reach. Uh Dr. Heler even mentioned that they have a really good reputation. So that's one of
017the reasons we reached out. Um and maybe they do have the biggest national pool. Um and they said they could start tomorrow. I think they might actually have already planned on coming tomorrow. So, we'll see. Uh, they seem very eager, but I am concerned about the cost. If we do a six week six week search and it's $30,000, is that an appropriate amount of money to spend for a search when we we are providing the data? So, what are again very nice people, but what are we getting for $30,000? And so, then we go to BWP, also very experienced. They help us find Dr. Heler. Um, I did work with them quite a bit personally and I do feel like they were very thorough and they did give us a proposal and when we came
018back to them and said, "Hey, we're not using the we're using our old data." They're like, "Oh yeah, we'll give you a discount." So, they're very flexible and they unve are also available to start tomorrow. Um, so those were my thoughts on all of them. Um, be open to hear what you guys all think. Well, I'll just go ahead if you guys don't mind. Um, definitely echoing some of those sentiments. Uh, first thing I want to touch on though is the the our collective feeling that there was not a need to redo data collection. Um, it was as as um Miss Smith mentioned three years ago. Uh, and I don't think attitudes in the community train have changed that drastically that we felt the need to go out and reservey the community again. the other
019part of that um I believe that will be available uh at least the the the PowerPoint um for the public to see well obviously it's it's here on here but I think it's it's available on board docs as well that we we will put that on there so people can see um the criteria and it's a list of of very positive attributes that I think if you have the chance to to break down and take a look at well strongly agree with that's what we came to in the past and that's guiding us now and there's nothing on there that we're like whoa we don't really need this quality or well this is this is something that's not reflective of the community anymore they're positive strong aggressive leadership aspects that's essentially looking for somebody who's
020going to be invested in our community in our families and in our schools um and a bunch of criteria that is supportive of that attitude so um I think that was the right the right way to go and again at a cost savings. I think it it just made a lot of sense and a time savings. Taking that element out was one of the bigger uh time spends that we had last time, but we had to do that. We really had to understand what we were looking for. Um and now we have that. We we've had a different experience. So I feel very comfortable with that. I feel very positive about that approach. Um, and just to kind of touch on the three companies, University Surge, great idea, great plan. Um, but again, they're local
021and we want to make sure that we're giving ourselves the opportunity to look nationally. Um, you know, we need look no further than our last search. Uh, we ended up with somebody from who was non-local and it worked out phenomenally well for us. So, um, just to be able to have that flexibility, uh, and if we find someone local and and that's spectacular. Uh so I think though to just be limited to local is is uh not quite what we want to provide for our community. Uh we want to make sure that we're looking everywhere. Um BWP I was actually on the board as along with Dr. Schwarz Wolf last time we did this um search and I felt like uh they offer um we had a good experience then they they have uh they
022offer a very a robust national search they have uh a lot of um interpersonal connections they have a lot of ability and a lot of reach so I didn't feel like we were limiting ourselves that way but did feel it was important to do the diligence to to look at other firms. Um and HYA also offered a very interesting plan but again for me uh it comes down to cost as well. Uh and I didn't feel like the presentation that HYA uh was offering was that drastically different uh and and at a much higher cost. So, um, those are my thoughts with the process and the firms. Um, I'm going to piggyback off what Mr. Castro said. If in my opinion when when looking at the three firms, University Search, I didn't I didn't give
023them much I don't want to say credibility, but um the fact that they only would search in Indiana. Uh that was a deal breakaker in in my mind. if if we we owe it to the the residents um of of Monster, if we want to be ranked nationally in programs and and the the experience that we offer grades K through 12, then we we shouldn't shut the shut the door on being able to look at for someone um in all 50 states and and Dr. Heler was a prime example on that coming from out west. Um, I I also want to I want to thank Kristen for all of the effort that she has done in a short amount of time. This was not easy. And I also want to thank Miss Cinder, Dr. Schwarzwolf,
024and Mr. Castro uh for responding to all the things that that Mrs. Smith has has sent to us. This this is not an an easy job and this is not going to be an easy process. Um, the fact that Dr. Schwarz Wolf, you are helping Kristen with this and answering any questions. Uh, thank you. Okay. It means it means a ton when we can rely on the two of you guys from your experience. Unfortunately, just not that long ago, three years ago. Um, but we will get through this. Does anybody have any other questions, comments? Um, I would like to add to I did not note this before, but one of the other comments about BWP is because Kyle, Amy, and I were not involved in the previous search, they will be interviewing the three
025of us separately. They will touch base with John and Ingred to ensure they don't have any additional thoughts, questions, changes, but the three of us would be interviewed. That was also a plus of asking us our questions, concerns, although we've had the opportunity to review the data, the profiles. So, I feel like we're very much um a team effort at this point and trying to ensure we do what we can in the best interest of our students in this district. And we feel very strongly that my recommendation would be BWP in order to lead our search and do what we can in order to fulfill our superintendence role with an individual that will lead us into the next several years of our district. And again, I I was remiss in thanking everybody here. I also
026want to say a special thanks to Ingred because she's put up with about 50,000 emails, questions, and phone calls over the last five days. So, thank you for your gracious patience in that as well as Deb Hayes back there. Um, because she has also been very gracious with all my questions. And Dr. Sorry, I don't mean diminish. You guys have any other questions, comments? I'll just reiterate that we are taking this very seriously. We obviously understand the importance of district leadership and our the future of our district, especially during a a difficult time in the state of Indiana and how public education is being viewed. Uh we are going to take our time. We are not going to rush this. Um, I know people in the community already know who the what the plan is
027and and who the person's going to be and no decisions have been made. So, I want to I want to make sure that the public is aware. We are going through this process. We are are going to leave no stone unturned just like we did last time. I'm very I'm very excited for this opportunity to be part of this search again. Um, but yeah, that we're we're not in in a rush, but if we find the right candidate, then we're going to we're going to move quickly. Uh, and if there needs to be an interim, as Mrs. Smith mentioned, then we will take that approach. If we find somebody that is the right fit for a permanent candidate, we are going to take that approach. So again, we're going to say that a h 100
028times how important this is, how careful we're being, and how serious we're taking this. Yes. And I think not only that, but the financial aspects, time, our district needs, and we recognize we have some challenges ahead of us. We recognize we're evolving, we're changing, and we want to ensure we have the best leadership in place for that for our students. So with that being said, I would like to make a motion to approve hiring BWP as our executive search firm And approve their LOU as presented. I'll second that. Any final comment, discussion? All those in favor of the motion, please say I. I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries 40. BWP will we will be our executive search firm for Dr. Heler's predecessor here. Replacement. Item number four, any items that may properly come before the
029board. I don't believe there are any. Item five, general public comments. Item number six, announcements. Our our June meeting, excuse me, our June regular school board meeting will be at six o'clock on June 9th. And that is it. With that, I will entertain a motion to adjurnn. Castro, a motion to adjurnn. Wolf. So moved or a second, sorry. All those in favor of the motion, please say I. I.