No matter the size of the district, each one has its disparities. And right now, many are lacking one of the most critical components of a school system: a superintendent.
Over the past few years, K12 education as a whole has taken a toll from a variety of external forces; whether political interference or a global pandemic, educators and district leaders have reached their limits. Given the circumstances, school districts need help to attract and recruit staff to fill vacancies caused by the chaos, namely in leadership positions.
After recognizing this need, James Guerra, founder of JG Consulting, one of the nation’s largest executive search firms for pre-K12 leaders, launched the Superintendent Search, a new online resource board that allows school systems nationwide to create job listings and establish an online presence to attract qualified job candidates.
“The rising number of superintendent vacancies continues to grow amongst education practitioners who are eligible for retirement or choosing to retire earlier, much like others serving in classified and certified roles in public education,” he says. “Now is the time for those who aspire to serve as superintendent and perhaps have not had an opportunity to lead an organization.”
The mission, he adds, is to help inform everyone of just how vast vacancies are in this field and to make the hiring process as seamless as possible for school districts.
Superintendent Search breaks the mold, according to Guerra. Unlike other platforms, it empowers school districts and gives them control of the hiring process.
“We found that many of the other platforms were simply funneling candidates from a repository of antiquated data sets,” he explains. “This particular practice created a challenge of producing unqualified candidates with zero return on my firm’s investment and the school systems we serve. Superintendent Search aims to empower school systems and candidates to manage their own job listings while candidates can curate job opportunities based on career interests and geographical location.”
One beneficial component of the job board is that it provides school systems with “point-in-time” feedback on how their job listings are performing, allowing them to make informed decisions about their budget and approach. Districts can also use it to promote events such as job fairs and open houses, as well as news articles and editorial content to create credibility.
“Opportunity awareness is the name of the game,” he says. “Superintendent Search is an automated platform with the ability to inform candidates of superintendent vacancies managed not only by JG Consulting but also by our counterparts. There is a mass exodus of superintendent vacancies nationwide, and we need to quickly share every vacant opportunity in real-time to strengthen the quality and quantity of candidates on behalf of our school system partners. School systems and candidates can rely on one source of information: Superintendent Search.”
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