NEWS RELEASE:

Five years ago, prior to taking the position as the USD 247 superintendent, Dr. Glenn Fortmayer had told the school board he would be moving on once his son graduated from high school. Dr. Fortmayer’s son is graduating at the end of this school year so now the school board is taking steps to find his successor.

At a Special Meeting on Thursday night the Board of Education members unanimously voted to hire Dr. Howard Smith to help as an advisor in the search for its next superintendent.

“Dr. Smith is well known and respected in this area and he’s a neutral party,” Dr. Fortmayer told the board.

Dr. Smith is a Professor and the Dean for the College of Education at Pittsburg State University, where he oversees the education of students training to be superintendents. He also has access to research that will allow him to do studies on items such as salary comparison.

Dr. Smith told board members that hiring a third party protects them from playing favorites and it protects the confidentiality of potential candidates. He said a candidate interested in the position may not want that interest to be known until later in the process.

“He’s going to pick out the best candidates for you – that trust factor is important in this process,” said Dr. Fortmayer. “He also has the expertise to be able to look at the applications and know what to look for.”

“Applicants will do their research too,” Dr. Smith told the board. “You want somebody who wants to be here, definitely, and not running from someplace else.”

The selection of a new superintendent comes at a critical time for USD 247.

The district has seen declining enrollment and does not expect it to level off until around 2020. Declining enrollment means a drop in funding for the district, which closed one of its buildings at the end of this past school year to reduce costs. The decision to close the McCune school building then lead to a battle over the collection of a Capital Outlay tax. Voters approved the tax but the communities that make up USD 247 were split, with Cherokee and Weir overwhelmingly supporting the tax and McCune overwhelmingly against it.

Dr. Smith told the school board members that it’s important to have ownership of the challenges the district faces, and before seeking applications he will solicit input from staff, the community as well as students to help determine the qualifications desired in the next superintendent.

“This will be a key selection for you,” said Dr. Smith. “You want to be upfront (with applicants). ‘These are the challenges – these are the things we love – it’s a good school – it’s a good education system.’”

“He promotes this area and in his position he knows how to help us find a good fit for us,” said USD 247 School Board member Sundown Jacobs.