Tuesday, the Birmingham Board of Education announced that Spencer Horn, the director of career academies with the Birmingham City Schools, will be the interim superintendent effective Jan. 1, 2015.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting the board announced that the executive recruitment firm McPherson & Jacobson will lead the search for the superintendent who will replace the outgoing Craig Witherspoon. McPherson & Jacobson was one of four finalists for the role of headhunting the new superintendent.
Last week, the Alabama Association of School Boards released findings from their public survey focusing on the search for the next superintendent.
What will be the most significant challenge faced by the next superintendent? According to the report from the survey, 31 percent of all respondents said raising and maintaining academic achievement throughout the school system.
In addition, 22 percent of all respondents said that maintaining a culture of trust and accountability is another important task faced by the next superintendent — the eighth Birmingham schools administrative chief in 20 years.
“We are pleasantly surprised that so many people participated in the survey and community engagement process,” Woodfin said. According to the report released by the Alabama Association of School Boards, 1,017 people participated in the community survey, which ended on Nov. 16.
“That is the highest number of people who have ever taken a survey in any school system in the state of Alabama,” Woodfin said. “We are pleased with all the input because we value the public being engaged in the process.”
In the report published by the AASB, the findings from the survey were compiled and listed what the respondents are looking for in whoever is chosen as Witherspoon’s replacement.
Rounding out the top three personal attributes that respondents hope the next superintendent possesses are friendliness, innovation and inclusiveness.
On the other end of the spectrum, the lowest ranked attributes were that the new superintendent be accountable, a decision maker and student-focused.
Woodfin noted that 68 percent of the people who took the survey were employees of Birmingham City Schools.
“What we noticed the most, perhaps, is that 62 percent of the people who responded said they don’t care if the person in currently employed in the school system. So what that means to us is that people just want the best person for the job regardless if they’re from the system or not,” Woodfin said.
“I think the attempt to engage the community was very comprehensive. And that is exactly what we need to do,” J.W. Carpenter, executive director of the Birmingham Education Foundation, said.
He said he was encouraged, much like Woodfin, by the number of respondents.
“Folks clearly want the best person for the job,” Carpenter said. “I liked what I saw that resonated across the different sectors. I think it’s one more piece of information that really encourages me about how the board is handling the selection process.”