BOE interviews superintendent candidates

For most people, having 20 to 30 strangers sit in on your job interview would be the stuff of nightmares, but for four accomplished educators, it was the next step in their attempt to become Vestavia’s next superintendent.

The Vestavia Hills Board of Education held interviews for the final four candidates for the job over the last four business days. Each candidate, after spending the day meeting administrators, teachers and students, underwent a public interview with the assembled board.

The interviews, held in the new gym at Vestavia Hills Elementary Cahaba Heights, began with an informal reception before each candidate was asked the same series of 15 questions, which the candidates were provided with in advance of the interview.

Major topics included how candidates would choose and work with faculty and staff, how they would work to be involved with and communicate with the greater community, the importance of creating a culture of learning, how they view social media and how they deal with a highly-charged situation.

Shawn Wightman

Superintendent of Marysville Public Schools in Michigan, Shawn Wightman was the first of the four candidates to interview, meeting with the board on Jan. 4.

Wightman led off his responses to the question about his experience and how he thinks superintendents impact student achievement by discussing the way he approaches his job, which he said is multi-faceted.

“In my current position I wear many hats,” he said, describing his responsibilities with curriculum, state and federal programs, contract negotiations and being the media spokesperson for his district.

As a superintendent, Wightman said it is important to him to have all of the data about a situation, issue or program, in order to identify the successes and areas of improvement.

“Once you do that, you can have the difficult conversations on some of the things you can improve,” he said.

With regard to hiring and fostering a culture of learning with faculty and staff, Wightman said he is a firm believer in collaboration and professional learning communities.

He said he looks to hire people with a “high level of self efficacy,” who are collaborative and a team player, who have a positive attitude and who genuinely care, as well as those who are competitive, because he sees those qualities in himself.

“If you don’t have any of those qualities, I have a concern,” he said.

When communicating with employees, Wightman said that he is committed to having an “open-door” policy for all employees at any time.

And for the public, he said he strives to be proactive and upfront with his communications, and is an avid believer in trying to have as many face-to-face interactions as possible, while utilizing technology to reach a wider audience.

In order to have those face-to-face conversations, Wightman said he is involved in several community organizations including serving as president of his local Lion’s Club and as a member of the Rotary club.

Additionally, he said in response to a question from the board about being a part of the community and school activities, he strives to attend school fundraisers, athletic events and arts performances to support students.

“If you don’t do those types of things, from my perspective, you’re not connected to the community in your district,” he said.

If he were to be offered the job, Wightman said, he would approach his first year with a 90-day transition plan that would include reviewing the strategic plan and collecting data through meetings and surveys.

“As a new superintendent coming into any system, you have to do what I call a ‘look, listen and learn’ tour,” he said. “There’s so much knowledge that a new superintendent coming in doesn’t have.”

Wightman said that ultimately, he wants to be Vestavia’s superintendent because it mirrors his current district, but provides also provides increased opportunities and proximity to friends and family, as well as a culture he finds attractive.

“The thing that I like is the ‘Learning without Limits,’ that right there is a mantra to be proud of,” he said.

Michael Todd Freeman

The second candidate to interview with the board didn’t have quite as far to travel for his interview, as current Sylacauga City Schools Superintendent Michael Todd Freeman made the short drive on Jan. 5.

Freeman began his responses by pointing out the similarities Sylacauga has had to Vestavia in several of its recent endeavors, including rezoning and construction projects.

“We’ve taken a lot of similar routes,” he said.

Freeman said it is his opinion that a superintendent is responsible for two things: the instructional side of a school system and the business side.

“Every child can learn if they’re given the right environment to learn,” he said, adding that everything from the budget to staff to even the school calendar plays into creating that environment.

In his time with Auburn City Schools and Sylacauga, Freeman said he has focused on creating equity of experiences for students as well as creating K through 12 professional learning communities and providing teachers opportunities for professional growth.

“Learning is fundamental to any profession,” he said. “You’ve got to be a lifelong learner.”

And that includes himself.

Many of Freeman’s responses to board questions hinged on his focus on personal and professional growth as a leader.

He said he has sought out executive coaching and been profiled to learn more about himself and how he works with others. The results, he said, paint him as an analytical person with an affinity for spreadsheets and data, but who loves to work on teams as a peacemaker and consensus-finder.

Combined with the virtues he said his parents instilled in him, including faith, hard work, importance of continuing education, working with people, empathy and compassion, he said he has a pretty good idea what his employees think of him.

“All of that drives my thinking,” he said, particularly when he is considering a new person for his team, empathy and compassion especially.

“More importantly than the intelligence side of things, I want to know what their emotional quotient looks like — those things drive the ability of a leader to be effective,” he said.

He too said he values face-to-face communication above anything else, especially the ability to listen to stakeholders.

“A lot more listening than talking,” he said.

For the public, he said that in his mind social media has dramatically changed the way that school districts communicate with the greater community.

However, he said he has found video messages to the community to be particularly effective, because they simulate that face-to-face experience.

Social media also played into Freeman’s answer to the board’s question about how he deals with highly-charged situations.

In October 2016, Freeman said the racial tensions on the national level spilled over into his community, the ultimate and very public result being the assault of a student and a fight among students during lunch.

“The schools are a microcosm of the community,” he said. “We inherit those [highly charged issues] whether we want them or not.”

Freeman said that he tries to get in front of situations like the one his district went through in 2016, but that it isn’t always possible to do so, and at some point it’s the superintendent and administration’s job to keep students safe.

“It’s really important to have wisdom and discernment when you have these highly charged situations,” he said.

Freeman said that beneficial and positive conversations and education took place while the district was going through the issue, including an initiative to increase literacy in the entire community, creating new professional development opportunities for teachers and staff and a new advisory team to get to the root of the deeply-seeded issues within the community.

He said that managing the situation and healing the community was about more than just doing his job — it was taking care of a community he is involved in.

And if given the chance, Freeman said he wanted to approach Vestavia the same way.

“I will learn far more form a community like Vestavia Hills than they will learn from me, but I want to add value back,” he said, adding that he would put his young children in the school system as part of that commitment.

Ronnie Dotson

The second out-of-state candidate took the hot seat Monday night, as Superintendent Ronnie Dotson of Carter County, Kentucky was questioned by the board, minus board member Jerry Dent.

Dotson said he views the role of a superintendent as one of instructional importance as well as one of budget and managerial.

Good superintendents expect greatness out of their students, faculty and staff, he said, but added he “would argue that they have greater expectations for themselves as well.”

At his district in Kentucky, Dotson said he has implemented a variety of “tool box” items to improve student achievement, including a reading goal-setting initiative, a 30-60-90 day planning process for continuous improvement and moving the district’s central office to a paperless-operation model.

Dotson said that with his faculty and staff, he looks to foster relationships and seeks out individuals who are visionary leaders, grounded in instructional practices and have good communications skills.

“I’m committed to excellence,” he said, adding that he holds himself to the same standard, especially when it comes to being a team player.

“I feel like being a good collaborator is essential to being a good leader,” he said.

As with the other candidates, the board asked Dotson how he draws the line between gathering more information about a topic or issue and finally pushing to a decision.

He said that he begins with gathering as much information as he can find, learning all the facts and researching the effect a decision would have on students to the best of his ability.

“There are many issues that will come up that I’ll need to research,” he said.

Especially when people are passionate, he said it is important to him to listen and hear stakeholders while being responsive and open to their side, “even if you can’t do what they want.”

Usually, he said, this helps him stay in front of issues, especially those that have the potential to be highly-charged.

And while he too prefers face-to-face communication when interacting with stakeholders, he said he utilizes social media whenever possible to help get out the district’s message.

“Social media is wonderful,” he said.

Dotson said he is very involved in his community as a member of Rotary, Kiwanis, as the education chair for the health department advisory committee, on the drug-free coalition and his church.

“I come from a wonderful community that is very supportive,” he said.

And as with his own involvement, Dotson said he thinks extracurricular activities for students are critical to success in education — and life.

“I can’t overstate the importance of curricular and extracurricular activities,” he said, referencing the sense of belonging, self confidence, leadership skills and other benefits of students participating in clubs, sports and arts.

In his first year, Dotson said he would focus on looking at the processes in place and making sure that they support the needs of students and teachers, inventorying resources and making sure that there is equity within the district.

He said he would also look to implement a more regular evaluation of the school district’s strategic plan and focus on building relationships with in the community.

“I understand that, and I understand what my role is in doing that,” he said.

Dotson said that if he is hired, he wants to bring his entire family to the area, including his adult son and his family.

Patrick Martin

The final candidate to be interviewed, Gardendale Superintendent Patrick Martin, was for many the most well-known of the four, as Gardendale’s attempt to leave the Jefferson County school system has been a major discussion topic in the greater Birmingham area for the last few years.

In his answers to board questions, Martin used examples from Gardendale, where he has been since 2014, but more so from his decade of experience in Illinois.

Next to teachers and principals, Martin said, he views a district’s central office and superintendent as incredibly responsible for creating an environment conducive to student learning.

By building a collaborative vision and utilizing the collective efficacy that collaboration brings, Martin said, the benefits filter down to all, particularly students.

He said it is imperative for a leader to create non-negotiable goals around instruction and assessment, and make sure that the district is holding itself to those goals.

He said he was thankful to have met with the varying groups that were part of the interview process Tuesday, and that he would want to have the same open-ear conversations if he were hired.

“I hope that it has come across to them that I would want to be a leader here in Vestavia that is engaging,” he said.

With employees, Martin said he thinks it is important for a superintendent to be both a “boots on the ground” individual listening to the ins and outs of issues, but also to take the helm and lead when necessary.

“If you can wear those two hats, you’re doing a very good job,” he said.

In Vestavia, he said based on his knowledge as a neighbor familiar with the area and district, doing a good job as superintendent isn’t a small task.

“This is a very very big job here in Vestavia Hills, because there is a standard of excellence — there is an expectation of excellence — and the buck stops here,” he said.

If given the opportunity, he said he would focus on building a culture that fosters that excellence, from choosing principals to offering professional development and communicating with employees, students and the community.

“I think being present and available is very important,” he said. “A superintendent is not only the leader of that school system, a superintendent is also a community leader.”

When asked about his experience working with a diverse student population, Martin broached the subject he said was potentially an elephant in the room: Gardendale’s efforts to break away from Jefferson County’s school system.

Martin said he considers himself to have been blessed to grow up in a school system that was very diverse, as he thinks it gave him insight into a situation and reminded him to focus on what is truly important, the success of students, when there is a population of different races in a community with opposing viewpoints.

“My responsibility as superintendent is to look out for the best interest of all students,” he said.

The narrative around Gardendale’s efforts has been divisive, with U.S. District Court Judge Madeline Haikala remarking in her April 2017 ruling about the issue that the motivation behind the move to leave the county was discriminatory in nature.

Martin said that when he was brought on board, he sought the counsel of experts from near and far on the issue and the impact it would have on Gardendale students and students in the rest of Jefferson County.

When he put the order before the court, Martin said, he used wording from Vestavia’s own diversity agreement, as he found it to be inclusive and he hoped it would assure the three communities Gardendale was pulling away from that they were not trying to ostracize them.

“That [agreement] has helped to push me and helped me to grow as a professional as well as person,” he said.

Whether dealing with hot-button issues or trying to determine what teachers need, Martin said he thinks it is a superintendent’s job to listen and understand, as well as act when the time comes.

“I think that a good superintendent serves as both a thermostat as well as a thermometer,” he said.

When asked why he wanted to be Vestavia’s superintendent, Martin said that besides wanting to put his own children in the system, he was struck by two things in recent history that make Vestavia an attractive district.

The first, he said, was VHHS Principal Tyler Burgess leading the student fans in a cheer in the boys basketball semifinal game, even though the Rebels were behind.

The second, he said, was when Jake Pratt scored a touchdown, and made national headlines.

“As a superintendent I would love to be a part of that,” he said.

Full videos of all four interviews were scheduled to be available online by the end of the week.