The Park City School District is looking for a new superintendent. The district’s superintendent of six years, Jill Gildea, announced her retirement in September. Treasure Mountain Junior High Principal Caleb Fine was named interim superintendent shortly after.
Board of Education President Meredith Reed said the board decided to conduct a survey to aid in the search for a new superintendent. Teachers, parents, staff, students, the district’s community partners and others were invited to participate.
“Once we knew that we were going to be entering into this process of determining who was the next superintendent, we definitely wanted to get community input into that, what the priorities are, what the values are,” she said.
Over 1,000 people completed the survey, with parents making up 48% of respondents, staff 23% and students 22%.
Respondents were asked to rank the top five characteristics they want in a new superintendent, with 52% including leadership skills in their list. Other top characteristics cited as important were effective communicator, understands the community, moral character and commitment to continuous improvement.
The community also list their top five priorities, with 56% including a “safe and welcoming environment for all students” in their rankings. Other top priorities included student preparation for success post-graduation, learning outcomes and performance, safety and curriculum.
Vice President Nick Hill said district priorities and superintendent characteristics go hand-in-hand.
“We can't identify the right person without knowing what the priorities are, and beyond that, when we do identify a person, we need to be able to set priorities as a board,” he said. “The community’s input into that is vital.”
In the open response portion of the survey, 72 respondents said they want the district’s new leader to be involved with the Park City community. Seventy respondents also recognized interim Superintendent Fine for his “deep understanding of the community and effective leadership.”
Reed said the board can move in a few directions now: directly appoint a superintendent, open applications or open a nationwide search. However, Hill said the board may look internally.
“There is a very clear sentiment in the community to have someone who understands our community and to think about looking internally,” he said. “We have smart, capable people here.”
Click here for full survey results.
