Helping Your Board Hire an Interim Leader

BOARD-SAVVY SUPERINTENDENT

The change in top leadership in a school district can be stressful at any time, but there are particular moments when timing is such that an immediate replacement isn’t possible, requiring an interim superintendent to be hired.

This can be beneficial in certain circumstances by giving a board of education a breather before making the most important decision it will make. In some cases, the superintendent is not leaving under the best of conditions and the board needs time to collect itself and move on. If the board’s behavior contributed to his or her leaving, a cooling-off period may be warranted before the board goes out to search again.

I could discuss, at length, the process by which a board could work out a decision amongst themselves as to whether to start their search for a permanent superintendent or decide to go with an interim. For this column’s purposes, we will assume the board has decided to proceed with an interim superintendent.