001[Music] good afternoon we will call the meeting to order momentarily and spsv will begin Broadcasting one two three there we go all right the March 25th 2025 board special meeting is called to order at 3:01 p.m. um I would like to acknowledge or we'd like to acknowledge that we are on ancestral lands and the traditional territories of the Puget Sound Coast Salish people for the record I will call the role uh vice president Briggs here director Clark presid director hery director Mahi director Ranken here director sarju present and this is uh president top um so we are here today because um as board directors are aware and I think the public is also aware superintend Jones announced last week he will be uh leaving the district meaning we need to undertake a superintendent hiring process
002um as board of directors one of our primary responsibilities is to hire the superintendent to serve as chief executive officer and chief administrative officer for the district um hiring the superintendent is a significant body of work we will need to stand up a robust engagement process with our community um to hear insights from them about what the board should be looking for um in our next district superintendent we'll need to we'll also need an effective recruitment of the best candidates diligent vetting knowledgeable Council throughout the process um for that reason I brought us tonight an action that would start the Contracting process initiate the Contracting process and really just start setting us up for the um uh for and so the Contracting process would be for an executive Search firm to support our board as
003we undertake the selection of the superintendent and lay out the work of head um the title for today's action is authorization to initiate request for proposals process for an executive Search firm to be selected by the board to assist the superintendent search process we will have discussion but first can I get a motion for the item um I mov to yikes uh I don't have there director or vice president Briggs I believe there's language in your email in the chat um sorry where where did you say it was Gina should it should be in your email from oh gosh Ellie earlier today from Miss Wilson okay motion for today great I'm finding it right now um okay I move that this School Board authorized the board president with the assistance of District staff to finalize
004a statement of work for a request for proposals for an experienced executive Search firm to assist the board in identifying candidates in the spring of 2025 to assume the position of superintendent of schools and authorize the board president with the assistance of District staff to finalize evaluative criteria for use by the board in reviewing the proposals prior to selection by the board immediate action is in the best interest of the district is there a second I got this so much easier second thank you both uh so as sponsor um I'll introduce this item and then we can move to a board discussion so really I think uh this action does two things uh first you'd authorize me to finalize the statement of work detailing the services we're looking for in a search firm a draft
005of that should be in your packet hopefully folks have had an opportunity to look at it I believe it starts on page like 9 or 10 um uh and because this request for proposals is for a search firm to support us as a board we will that we as a board will be the RFP evaluation committee so you would also be authorizing me to finalize the criteria that we'd be used to evaluate the proposals we get from the firms in this process and the draft for that is also in your pack ET um after the statement of work hopefully folks have had an opportunity to look at that um as well uh so that way we can have a discussion to see what additions edits may be necessary to these documents before they are finalized
006um any that that's one of the main goals I hope tonight is to get that that input from board members so we can finalize them um that's what this action does uh but before we move into discussion I want to just add a little bit of context about the sort of complimentary steps in the process assuming that we move forward um with tonight's actions and that these materials can be updated promptly after this meeting to incorporate the feedback that we hear our procurement process will issue a request for proposals on our behalf tomorrow um moving very very quickly um we would ask ask interested firms to submit any question to to submit by next week and proposals would be due um April 8th that means that directors uh as directors we would then receive those
007proposals to individually evaluate them on April 8th um before joining together that the afternoon of April 9th to work through the proposals as a body so that is a quick Turn Around from the 8th to the 9th um and then my goal for our meeting on the 9th is to identify our top three for interviews uh interviews with the top firms would then be scheduled the next week looking and uh calendar holds have been sent out for the 17th and 18th to board directors uh following those interviews with the three finalists we would work to identify and select the firm um at our board meeting our at our during a special board meeting on April 23rd um and then we would make a selection of by voting oh sorry let me re let me clarify
008that following these interviews with the three finalists we' work to identify a final selected firm during a special board meeting on April 23rd and then uh we would make the selection official by voting on it during our April 23rd regular board meeting we got to get really uh complicated there but uh in the last part of your packet it has sort of detailed out this timeline for folks so you you can follow along a little bit easier uh The Firm would be under contract then by the end of April or so and we would be able to move sort of into the engagement steps and building out our shared vision for what our next leader um would be with uh what what we would want in the next leader um what I've shared is is
009in the board outline oh what I've shared is the board outline for what we're anticipating being our next steps but we reserve the right to uh change the process or modify it uh through through the discussion and it's just a general outline to help guide us um so folks are aware all these materials today were developed um advice from our procurement department and other staff I've also had our outside Council to the board Buzz Porter review these documents and confirmed that uh we will have councel or he will able to support us as we move through this process and our selecting and negotiating the contract with our next superintendent so a lot of information a lot of paper in front of us um but I want to go to directors who may have questions or
010comments if it is a procurement question I believe I have someone from the procurement Department as well here who will be able to help us um because that is definitely outside of my area of expertise comments questions from board directors I have a question yeah vice president thanks uh yeah I'm just wondering if you know using a search firm does that preclude us from using other um entities in in our search as well like the council for great City schools for example or just um do do all the candidates have to come through the search firm I guess is is my question so I'm going to respond but the way I would believe it would work is that they would we can find candidates anywhere and we should all be working and and using our
011networks to find candidates uh to apply and then they would go through the a process that we set out um in conjunction or in coordination with the search fir um so for example director Rankin and I were just in DC I believe director Ranken is still there uh she's had a busy day on Capitol Hill meeting with legislators from Washington from um but she is also with the great Council of great City schools and is uh had already made an announcement in front of the entire group that you know we are will be starting a superintendent search um and uh so already making those connections and I think we have a responsibility as a board to be doing that work does that does that answer your question yeah yeah so ju just to clarify the
012search um firm is just one possible Avenue for attracting candidates but there could be they could come from anywhere essentially yeah yeah they can come from anywhere and I think mainly they're providing the infrastructure for us and the capacity for us to be able to like what's the process when are the dates coordinating with candidates for interviews all of all of that that backbone work um okay that uh I don't think staff has the capacity for and I definitely know board does not have capacity for uh uh director s seru and then director Rankin I don't know who had their hand up first I'm sorry go for IT director sarju then go for yeah um so Evan answered one of my questions um I'm as I look at the timeline and first of all full
013disclosure I am not on my aame and so it may take me a minute to get my thoughts together um so as I look and and feel free to say we'll talk about this later but as I look at this timeline it actually doesn't seem realistic to me given the fact that um we're behind the eightball in terms of when normally when schools districts are recruiting superintendents you know for example I believe Northshore superintendent has been selected and they're going to start in the fall but that started happening last year and so when I think about the timeline um I first of all it there we're not really leaving room for engagement and engage the families in this District have not felt like we've actually been doing engagement and so it behooves us to um
014to take that into consideration the second point is I don't actually believe that this iteration of the board should be choosing the next superintendent we have four seats open four seats that means four new directors have to live with the decision of us short timers that does not seem um like it's in our professional best interest and sure would I love to be you know I I will say I'm not excited about the search firm because I've done been there done that and it actually didn't work out um so I'm worried about wasting taxpayer dollars related to that um but I feel pretty strongly that the next group of elected officials given that um four of them will be serving for four years should really be in the decision making seat um that seems prudent
015it seems wise it actually seems fair that someone like me who's you know I got I got a counter on my phone I got 36 weeks left first Tuesday in December at 5:00 I'm done and I don't feel comfortable making that decision for the person who's going to take my place and have to live with that decision for four years so I would like us to think about that that doesn't mean we couldn't find an interim or a point an interim through this process um but I want it to be on the record for the families and the voters I do not support this iteration of the board making the final decision on the next superintendent so that a majority of the board and we're talking a majority four people a quorum have to live
016with that decision so I would like to reconsider the timeline um I am willing to I don't know if the word is support but I think for those of us who went through this once already with a search firm I can say in the rearview mirror we did not spend taxpayer dollars well and in this budget time it is our responsibility to make sure Beyond a reasonable doubt that we're spending taxpayer dollars well we're mortgaging our child's future by wasting money um and so I just I want that to be on the record um we we need a new superintendent and I don't believe we have to rush rush rush and possibly not make the right decision it's possible we could get lucky you know Seattle thinks you know we think we're special and we
017can do things outside of uh normal channels that's always been the Seattle way um I don't um and I really want to set up our kids for the next four years um to actually stand a chance and so that's that's where I stand it was important for me to to come out even though I know I'm going to hear about my coming out I should have my butt at home on the couch um but it was important for me to be here and say that in person I didn't know how many people were going to come but I want us to I you know I'm not trying to influence any board members y'all going to do what y'all going to do period And I want the public to know I do not support this iteration
018of the board making the decision on a final superintendent I would support an interim um I think that is a um a reasonable way to go given where we're at in the cycle of recruitment um so that that's all for now move to director Ranken thanks can you guys hear me okay yes okay um yes I I'm still in DC and going to get on a plane at a disgustingly early hour tomorrow to come back home um I uh so I have a couple or questions slash comments I think um my wonder about the contract with the search firm is is our contract with them for time taken or for deliverables no matter when they are and the reason I'm asking that is because um I am fine with the search process taking longer and
019maybe we find that we need an interim or you know I I want to make sure that we have all possibilities open to us um so I would be comfortable you know starting this process with the search firm and everything now as long as um if it does take longer and we do go into the next iteration of the board for whatever reason um we're not just stacking up the expense um or having to start over because I think um the having been through this once before with SPS and having just been through this as a board director with wda hiring our executive director over there obviously different type of organization but similar board board having to find an executive um I think it's helpful to think about the firm less as the search firm
020they're not going to find something magical person that only exists through them um so less as the search firm and more as the process firm what they're going to do is help us because and and any good firm is also going to say do you have anybody you'd like to recommend to to all of us so um they're not only going to be willing to do that they're going to expect that we are going to make some suggestions and throw some names their way so it's not some they don't have access to some magical source of people that only they can provide um and also they don't know our community and we do and so they're going to have all kinds of recommendations that we are going to need to be the experts on um
021who Mets our criteria not who who meets their criteria so I I'm hoping that's helpful framing um that the search room doesn't tell us who to hire and the search firm doesn't um have some kind of Monopoly over what candidates are out there um so I'm comfortable starting this process now as long as we're not um limiting ourselves and saying you know it has to be done by such and such or you know we can't have an interim I think we need to be ready for the possibility of learning about some great people we may not have found ourselves um having the firm help support uh making sure the process is really transparent making sure that they're adding the capacity into our system for us to plan um different engagements and whatnot and help the
022process but I I um would be really hesitant if we were locking ourselves into any specific end point um or any definitive uh like the choice has to be made in September we have to start over or something like that um so uh yeah that being said that the timeline is is tough and I have questions about I mean given that on the timeline the search fir is selected not for another month or two I can't now I can't find it um that doesn't give a whole lot of time to um uh for them to analyze candidates and for us to interview them before the the school year just you know ends um so I I do have a lot of concerns about the work being done to lead this District between now and September
023um um and how how we transition to either a new superintendent or an interim um just that the timing is making me a little nervous um I will say being here we do have a ton of support people were really supportive and you know thinking about who they could send our way um you know our our fellow urban districts want our success want Dr Jones's success want you know um good stuff for our kids uh so that's exciting the other thing I will say is um we just our our community's values are not going to dramatically change we just did vision and values listening and I'm not not all saying that we don't need to hear from anybody again but but we went through a process where our community told us what was important we
024voted on as a board and I think that is that needs to be the sustaining Focus regardless of who is occupying our seats um in a couple of months that the the values and the vision of our community are not going to suddenly change um because there are different people I also completely understand um dror sju's concern that the majority of the board could be totally different people um so that was a really really long way for me to just say I think we should be open to doing whatever is the next best thing we need to do and if starting the search process now opens that and doesn't limit us you know we know we need a new person so director hery he me okay yes we can hear you um I just wanted
025to express like Shar concern for uh kind of the topics that director sergeu brought up um for slightly different reasons I just think that we're in a really uh timing wise a a not optimal time to be recruiting a really quality candidate given our budgetary situation the fact that we're going to be going into a negotiation potentially um and and a myriad of other things um and at the same time I'm not super stoked about an interim right I think the more I think about this having been through this at least like 1.5 times is like what I would say is we need to be really thoughtful about the process and not box ourselves into a corner um I think that utilizing the search firm and seeing what's out there is probably the best option
026that we have available to us I also don't want to close off our minds to what appointing an interim could look like um and I know that there's like often times conversation about like well if you appoint if you appoint an interum make sure that you know you put something in there about them not being able to apply and take the position I just want to make sure that we are not putting too many boxes around the process at the beginning just so that we don't back ourselves into a corner and potentially like miss out on appointing the best person to lead the district right that being said um I think that we need to do a far and wide search like we need to unturn every Rock possible right and those rocks could be
027in Seattle my my hunch is that they're probably somewhere else uh if I'm being if I'm keeping it a buck um because the types of challenges that the district are going to be facing are are very well steeped and I am I am I have serious concerns about the situation that we are asking a really strong candidate to step into and potentially buying some time and seeing what the legislature is going to do getting a clear understanding of what the terms and and timeline for negotiations will be because bringing a new superintendent into a situation to where they need to negotiate a contract feels to me untenable um and and really just setting you know both our Education Association ourselves and our families up for a lot of Discord um which given everything that we've
028already been through does not feel like the best option that being said there's also the argument that you know many would make about you know having stability and and getting a person in as quickly as possible I don't have the answer to that and I don't think we fully know what our community wants in that regard I think I agree with director Ranken and that we we can lean heavily on a lot of the information that we gleaned from um our conversations around vision and values but in terms of process I think that that's a big question mark for me I think that some folks would say you're the board that's your main job go ahead and get it done others would probably share the sentiments of director sju um I don't know if that's
029a question that we want to tease or if we want to um kind of take this one step at a time my gut instinct would be to begin with the like fuling steps of the process that you've laid out president top um but not bind our El to making a decision or call by any type of like specific date um I think we need to really ensure that whoever we find is a strong fit for both the short and long term and like not be afraid for that to be two people not be afraid for that to be one person and not be afraid for that to be one person for the short term that could end up being the same person for the long term right I I don't know I just don't want
030to put us like you know having led us through the previous process there were so many different permutations and and restrictions that we put on ourselves um that I think we need to really be unburdened by as we are trying to do a really thoughtful search so that's my two cents director Mahi thank you uh so first of all I just want to say that uh obviously because of the public meeting rules we can't uh meet beforehand but I'm like so happy that we're all I think relatively on the same page and all four directors that have previously spoken I'm like nodding my head at the things that are being said that I think that we're um all coming uh if if not exactly in the same place all coming from the same direction um
031okay first of all uh just being the first public opportunity to do so I want to thank Dr Jones for his service and obviously for for me wish him the best in his uh future um uh and then just to Echo a few things that I heard um so um I really like the way that director Rankin phras framed it as being a process firm and I think that that's um you know my understanding and what I would like the search firm to be doing one of the questions that I asked that I got that that made sense to me is that a lot of the work that if we were to say we don't want to hire research firm a lot of that work because we still need to you know post jobs and
032vet C candidates and set up interviews a lot of that work would just fall on District staff which obviously due to budgetary Cuts is like very depleted and also um hopefully doing a lot of work to build the Strategic plan and do all the other work of the district so uh so I think that adding that capacity even if uh you know they are we're not relying on this search firm to be the ones doing the searching and finding all the candidates and and we're going out to every Network that we can just doing that basic nuts and bolts work I think is super important um on the timing I think I share everyone's concern the one thing is that looking at the wasda recommended timeline it looks like uh it looks like the the
033steps that we're taking and the time that we're doing to take those steps we're not in like a very condensed process we're not changing what that process looks like we're what what is unfortunate is that we are just doing it later than obviously would be ideal so the timeline is I think with within the realm of what is recommended it's just that we're doing it at a later period uh which obviously as previous board members have mentioned May um impact the candidates that uh they were able to find um so with that I mean I think that the balance between interim versus finding a full-time person I mean I think that um you all said it but I I want to make it clear from my perspective too that um if we are going forward
034with this process it may be that we are finding the person that we think is the right fit but it may be just as likely if not more likely that we end up with an interim but that we've gone through do these steps to develop our criteria to engage the community and those are all valuable steps even if we are just hiring interm for now and I think that um for the benefit of transparency and folks seeing uh that we are doing as much engagement as possible I think it's important to go through that process even if the outcome of that process is that we're getting to an interim so my understanding of the motion is that it does not lock us into hiring a full-time person does not make that decision or say we
035have to do it on any certain timeline but that actually we do have the opportunity to say if we feel like the candidates are lacking or even if we feel like there are some great candidates but we're hearing from the community that they want us to go through a different process that we could still opt for an interim at the end of that um I think of that process and then the last thing I'll say just to Echo what director hery said you know at work a lot of times when we have like a a moment of indecision we just say well the next step is the next step and it seems to me like even if we're not sure what the outcome is or where we end up it seems like the most logical
036next step is engaging this firm going forward and then that still gives us as I understand it I think as every other director so far has expressed that still gives us the leeway to make a different decision later director Clark thanks um good to see you guys um sorry I don't have my camera on I'm um still in bed recovering from knee surgery um I don't know that I have um a lot new to add to the discussion at this point um I did want to say a couple of things um first just thanking Dr Jones um for his service and commitment um to Seattle public schools and to our kids um I really enjoyed um listening to um director hery um and just some of the things you were sharing about the process that
037you guys went through or processes and a half that you guys went through before um and I think that having folks on the board who have been through a search process um right now now will actually be very helpful um to those of us who have not um and so um you know as I've been thinking about you know some of the pros and cons of um the options that we have before us um and the reality of new board members coming on board next year um I think you know starting this process now while we have um some wisdom in the room um to help guide us um is actually really beneficial um and I also am hopeful that um you know this timeline I guess I also have some concerns about it just
038um I want to make sure that we do a a a robust Community engagement process um you know I've i' I think transparency is probably one of the most important parts of the work that we're embarking on um bringing in someone new at a time when our Community Trust is low um is going to be a a challenge and so I just want to make sure that we um take the time that we need to take um to do that part of the work um but yeah I I agree with some of my colleagues that um this seems like the logical Next Step um as long as we're not you know I'd like us to keep as many options open as we possibly can at this point and you know we'll make decisions as Things
039become more clear um later on down the road so that's all I have to say any other board directors have questions I'm going to before I call the role and then after that I will I'll go through some of the statement of work pieces director saru um it's about I think the motion that's on the table because I um which I can't find at the moment um one of the things I was thinking about is I I don't know if this is capacity wise as possible but I do think that there should be at least two of the three um what do youall call yourselves when you're vice president and member at large what's that called board officers board officers the words are just not coming I think there should be at least two people
040um like involved in the process um and I don't know whether the motion needs to reflect that or not but that's my ask um and it could be three it could be all three of you but I think minimally there needs to be two um yeah I are you saying for the statement of work and the uh search from criteria well is that is that what we're voting on on the statement of work and the criteria yes that's what we so that's what I will work with staff right after this meeting to finalize so any comments board directors may have uh like let's try to incorpor that that's what I would like the next part of the discussion to be is let's incorporate any of those feedback there so we're not taking a vote on
041just giving you exclusive Monarch mon just on these two doc documents okay all right um but uh and but uh director sergeant you want to stay with me and work with staff would would love your help or uh any yeah uh to finalize I'm not I am not a board officer so there um to find but uh if after we vote I would like to see if folks have any feedback on these documents uh that we that so we can make sure we incorporate them so that way staff can get it out tomorrow what is the goal any any other board directors wait sorry for this is for clarification because I have I do have something I want to ask about the criteria y but you're suggesting that we take the vote first and then
042add that would be my suggestion yes it doesn't we don't get too too confused too confused with all all the stuff all right then could staff please uh call the vote on this motion vice president Briggs hi director Clark I director hery sorry just to confirm that was an i yes it wasn't I thank you can you hear me well yes okay uh director mahi I director Ranken I director saru I and president top I this motion is passed unanimously okay thank you everyone I appreciate it I think this is the next logical next step I don't think it locks us into anything and I think it provides some of the infrastructure in the process to make things transparent so we can do some of the um engagement and and setting up of processes that
043we need to I want to now talk about the two documents that you have both the statement of work document as well as the uh the uh superintendent search from criteria seeing if there are uh concerns edits or things that you want to see that aren't in these documents um my goal will be to uh sit with staff here right after to finalize the finalize them so they can get that so they can get out tomorrow excuse me director Clark um I have a question if we're looking at the search firm criteria I'm on age 12 of our packet um at the top um it there are two minimum criteria for selection of the firm and I was I guess just curious how we came up with um that criteria yeah it's going to be
044hang on uh I'm wondering uh Miss Wilson Jones if we can have someone from the procurement office come and and talk a little bit and then I'm going to be right back good afternoon my name is Nick Iona I'm the procurement manager for Seattle Public Schools uh just to address the question about the two minimum criteria uh three years in business is typically what we do use for U various types of rfps all different types of processes through my networking with small businesses um and community outreach we found that three years in business is typically a a good number that kind of hits that sweet spot between um new enough where we can still Outreach to a lot of small businesses but has been in business long enough to actually know what they're doing uh
045so that's three is a very common number we use and then for the other criteria um it was clear there was some desire to make sure that this specific firm that we're looking at at uh can or has had successful recruitment specifically for superintendent before so that's how we landed on the two minimum criteria director Clark any oh any followup questions oh yeah um thank you um is two I guess I'm just wondering if we were to end up with a firm that has only had two successful searches is that a level of that we that you feel comfortable like in US placing our confidence in or I guess that number seems a little low to me I is so uh is that a question for me or I don't think it's a question for
046you yeah I think that's a question for fellow board members and I see lots of hands up uh uh director sju and then we'll go to director Rankin but let's stay are we staying on this thread or okay director sju um so to Echo what um director Clark said the other thing is when I read this it says having experienced work with at least two school districts on superintendent recruitments for which both searches resulted in successful placements what is the criteria for successful placements we need to just like just putting somebody in the job does not define success if the person they put in the job actually ends up staying for whatever measure of time it's not just putting a butt in a seat that's not a successful recruitment I think we need to have
047um we need to understand what we mean by successful and we can Define it like we as a board can Define it but I'm not comfortable with uh the two requ District requirements that seems really low and without a definition of what success looks like like we have measures of success in our academic goals right we have percentages we have you know kids passing tests so on and so forth we need to get to that level of specificity not just having the word successful because the firm found somebody and they were able to sign a contract so I'd like to get more clear on that director seru will you work on language what you think would be helpful there well so what's your name what's your name huh Nick hi Nick um I think I'd
048be willing to have a phone call with you um to think about how maybe other procurements have been more uh defined um I am not a procurement expert but this doesn't you know when I decided to get my hysterctomy I asked very direct questions like oh I've done a hundred of them well my next question was well how many women died right how many bladders did you Nick like I wanted specific requests uh questions answered because that was important to me and I think for this search successful is very vague I don't know if Greg and and Ellie are over there they're over there Whispering so we'll let them come up I think part of this goes to how the minimum criteria and the evaluation criteria will be used in conjunction your minimum criteria are
049intended to really be screening criteria by which the threshold that for it to be a serious proposal for the board to consider they would need to be um in business for several years and that makes sense had success with some superintendent searches little bit of flexibility there in the term I guess we would be differential to how they would frame it up in their materials and then in the evaluation criteria these are the ones that we have the board teed up on um April 8th to receive the materials and sit with them and spend some time with them to evaluate them based on these criteria and then to come together on April 9th and also April 10th as necessary and included in here is that experience and expertise in educational executive searches so you would
050be looking to the proposals and how folks have demonstrated to you that they have had that experience so um they speaking to those successful placements and then also um sorry the other point is the proven track record of successful placements so the board will have more opportunity to look for uh more robust evidence of search firm's ability to successfully recruit and place a superintendent I I guess my thank you for that I still have the question though of someone who's responding to the RFP having vague language like when you're and I've I've evaluated many rfps at a government level at the county and you have to have specificity otherwise you you don't know really what you're getting and so I don't know where that would go Ellie that's that that's really my question like would
051we decide that as a board as we're reviewing or are we putting it in the RFP the language the specific language like for example director Clark brought up the low bar of just two school districts like is that what we put in the RFP is that can we change it can we make it four can we make it six and if we can do that then can we not Define what successful looks like within the context of the RFP so part of my question though is we get to Define it when we're scoring it like when we are when we are scoring each RFP we get to look at the evidence and see if it was a successful placement or not right yeah I think maybe I'm not being clear like I don't understand what
052a successful placement looks like I understand what you're saying director you um I think it's important that we all all of us the procurement team the board staff that we are able to Define what a successful search is so that we're all on the same page as we are going through this process um and looking for candidates and it would seemed to me um that it should be possible to say a little bit more about in the RFP itself what we mean when we say successful yeah yeah and maybe this isn't the place to work that out but I think we need to be real clear going in so what I'm hearing as I'm uh finalizing some of this criteria with staff today is that we want to better Define successful placements and we want
053maybe something higher than two yes yes I heard um and I'm seeing I'm seeing nodding heads and I'm going to go to Liza and then Evan who put her hand our director ranking sorry and then vice president Brig sorry about that it is fine um I yeah I have uh just oh gosh I mean I've just learned so much about so many things since the last time this this happened um I with the profile the scope on the scope of work document um I would like to suggest that you know the executive Search firm isn't developing the profile of a superintendent the board is with the assistance of the search firm um and and so at a minimum interviewing board directors interviewing staff soliciting commun input that should be my belief is that you know
054according to state law um hiring the superintendent hiring the most qualified superintendent to lead the district is the sole responsibility of the board and the board is the decider of what most qualified means for us so I'm not saying that we don't need anybody's input but I I don't want the executive Search firm to tell us what our profile of a successful superintendent for Seattle Public Schools will look like so you're you're looking under scope of work on page one where it says the executive Search room will develop a profile so making it clear that it's the board that will develop the profile with the help of the search firm yep and the search firm will support us by interviewing senior staff and and doing other things but it's it should be the board's profile
055not not the search rooms profile I I I feel um and then uh kind of in that same vein um I would like it to be really clear that uh where it says district and where it says board this is really um I mean we we are the owners so the superintendent is is is completely up to us to run the organization that we own as represent representatives of the community um so there are some places where it says the district will enter into contract negotiation can you show me well at the top says the district will R proposals and select the firms what that I'm I'm seeing at the top of page one of two it says the title is attachment B draft evaluation Seattle Public School Superintendent surf firm criteria the district will
056review all proposals and select the firms I think that's the board yeah yeah so that's that's exactly what I'm talking about the district reserves the right to conduct interviews with top three firms that should be the board so I think what I hear Liza saying is that we need to because the district is is not the board it's the staff I'm looking to staff real fast to say does that preclude you from doing sort of the minimum criteria work that you need to do in order to get us for this procurement process the board serves as the RFP evaluation committee I don't think there's any um issue with substituting in the board for the district um and I'm I'm happy to now we're in when it's the right moment kind of review the edits I'm
057tracking them on the document here for things that have been suggested okay so what I'm hearing Liza is going through the documents and being very clear um in in those places yes extremely clear and and for further Clarity too that the the agreement with the search firm and with eventually a superintendent um is fully the responsibility of of the board and that we should be owning those decisions and that we obviously um direct uh the district to provide the resources to fund the search but we run all of these processes I feel like um of all the places to be really really really clear about um the ownership is is this so even the the procurement Department um is uh being engaged on be you know to to support the board the district is not
058doing the procurement process we and and I even have questions about um uh why this would go through District procurement and not just be through our attorney um but I'm not going to make a big deal out of that I just wanted to be super duper clear that it is that the district procurement department is assisting and providing a service to the board it is still our procurement as the board it's on District process Miss Miss Wilson Jones and then I'm going to go to vice president bricks um I wanted to confirm one piece to ensure that we're understanding how the board would like the minimum criteria to operate so the way the minimum criteria generally would operate in a RFP process looking to General General councel and procurement manager here are that th they
059are the screening criteria so you will not receive proposals that are not responsive to these criteria so I'm thinking and these would be screened by by District staff on your behalf so if this language were to say the board directs that the district you implement the following minimum criteria for selection of a firm on the board's behalf is something more succinct but is that the intent of directors and um Greg n may have something more hi good afternoon Greg narver general counsel and I do want to emphasize the board will have its own uh outside Council advising it through this process up through and including the uh negotiation of a new employment contract I remain counsil to the district so I'm keeping an eye on the overall process to make sure that we're following our
060procurement rules and things like that I do do just want to emphasize the minimum screening is simply to faret out those applications those proposals that don't even come close to meeting a qualified firm and the board will never see those once you have the ones who have passed that minimum criteria how you want to dig into that and see I don't want to I don't care that you've placed five superintendents they were all gone within six months that's a good opportunity to do that it's it's up to you if you want more stringent minimum criteria do be aware we go through this all the time when we post positions for higher the more stringent you make it you may screen out some uh smaller companies that are just getting a foothold in the market just
061be aware that uh it's sometimes tempting to say we don't want to hear from you unless you've had this huge long track record and then you may uh the board may never even see some firms that could be players but they're just starting to move into that area just something to be aware about how that plays out I thanks Greg I think that's that's helpful to um uh to my point too that it's just it's really clear that the board is making this decision um that we're not having a decision sort of uh so having the minimum criteria of like let's not um spend time reviewing uh people that or firms that don't meet the minimum criteria what you're saying Greg as I understand it is that the definition of successful would be ours to
062make based on anybody who has who has met this FL and my further understanding is that we'll to have a in depth discussion about that on April 9th having received the materials on April 8th which is a quick turnover for for directors so really flagging that now of like be prepared put away put some time aside on April 8th to review materials so we can have a productive conversation on the 9th together about that yeah just to emphasize of course this is the board's process only the board can hire a superintendent and the criteria that you use are yours to develop uh we're probably not doing you any favors if we write the minimum criteria in a way that you get 35 firms you're supposed to look through some of whom have never even worked
063with a school district so the idea is just to set a couple of initial uh gatekeeping uh inquiries you get the ones that these are these are real players in uh School District search process and then it's your call as to who you want to go with vice president Briggs thank you oh vice president Briggs you're on mute whoops um sorry about that so uh actually I think I'm good I everything that I was going to say has already been addressed by previous speakers at this point so I do not need to say anything further other edits okay um well we have a lot of work ahead of us uh this is uh an additional piece of work that we will be taking on as a board but I I my expectation is that we
064continue marching forward with our other uh board work but there being no further business to come before the board this evening the regular the board meeting is now adjourned at 4m. thank you everyone thank you thanks bye