“I would like a superintendent who understands that kids don’t wear the same size shoe,” she said. “Their brains develop differently.”
Griffin and her daughter, Sarah, who attends Jerry Whitehead Elementary School in Sparks, each put in their two cents about the district’s next school chief at the last in a series of town hall meetings Monday night at Reed High School.
Sarah, who is in the Gifted and Talented Education program, wrote a letter of thanks to the trustees for her educational opportunities.
“I’ve been able to hang out with people my age,” Sarah read from her letter.
About 20 parents and former and current district staff, including four trustees and consultant Jim Huge, came with concerns about special needs and gifted students and echoed the desire to have a leader who will offer opportunities for students at both ends of the spectrum.
The district’s board of trustees has the task of replacing current superintendent Paul Dugan, who retires in August. Making good on its promise to involve the community, the board and Huge have gone to various schools to collect information on what qualities the next superintendent should have.
Huge, who focuses on searches for school superintendents, explained the process to parents at Reed on Monday and the rationale for choosing from a national pool of candidates.
“We’re trying to get as many high-quality people for the board to choose from,” Huge said. “We’re advertising nationally as well as (performing) targeted recruiting that’s focused mostly on the Rocky Mountain region and the west coast.”
The deadline for applicants to submit their resumes is Thursday, although Huge said the disclaimer of “or until the position is filled” is being used in case the board is not satisfied with candidates who apply by the deadline. So far, Huge said between 30 and 60 applications have been received and will be narrowed down to four to six for board interviews.
Responses about what the candidate should be like were similar in nature, with frugality and creativity topping the list.
Amy Landers, the mother of a special needs daughter, said creativity and resourcefulness would be especially important in garnering more dollars for Nevada, one of the least-funded states for education.
“I really want ... the middle school and high schools to be more like elementary schools,” Landers said. “I get sick and tired of hearing ‘We can’t do that.’ ... I want to be looking for someone oriented with getting children into an area where they can be competitive. I want them to be the best they can be.”
Maria Davis, an English/Spanish translator, highlighted diversity as a key qualification.
“Working with the Hispanic community, I see a lot of times the kids are classified as special ed, when it’s really not special ed, it’s just a language barrier,” Davis said. “I would like someone who understands diversity. We have great opportunities with minorities here, not just Hispanics.”
Another challenge is keeping some students from becoming bored in class as they wait for peers to catch up to their academic levels, some parents said.
Spanish Springs parent Patricia Russum said she would love to see the children of the district challenged to their full potential.
“I hope the candidate would be a person who respects students, who have a right to be challenged,” she said. “The district is a disservice if you don’t challenge them at every level.”
At the end of the discussion, Trustee Barbara McLaury, a former teacher who represents the west portion of Washoe County from Cold Springs to Washoe Valley, said she appreciated the parents attending as advocates of the students.
“It makes me distraught not having children’s needs met at schools, regardless of the fact that we have a large district; that’s no excuse,” she said. “And so often, those gifted and talented children are not given their due and they are, in fact, the leaders of tomorrow and we constantly shortchange them without having a plan for them.”
Trustees are still seeking input and encourage community members to take a survey on the superintendent search on the school district's Web site, www.washoecountyschools.org.
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