The search for Snyder ISD’s next superintendent will include input from the community.
A community survey is posted on the school district’s website. The link is http://www.snyderisd.net/cms/One.aspx?portalId=3174299&pageId=30269837.
Board of trustees president Ralph Ramon said it is important to get feedback from the community.
“Parents need to do the survey for their children. Educators need to do the survey for our schools. The public needs to do the survey because they are stakeholders in the district,” Ramon said. “Everyone is a stakeholder in this decision.”
He plans to make the process as transparent as possible, including possibly discussing the survey results in a town-hall style meeting later this year.
“This is all about what the people of our community want,” he said.
Ramon knows that some people do not have computers to take the survey. Public computers are available at the library and Ramon may take it one step further. He said the board may discuss allowing the public to use electronic tablets at school-sponsored events to complete the survey. The board has not discussed that option and it is only in the preliminary stages.
Ramon said he would like to see the number of completed surveys top the number of season tickets sold for football.
Trustees will complete a similar survey and the findings will be compiled by Ronnie Kincaid, the executive director of the Region 14 Education Service Center. Kincaid was hired as the board’s search consultant.
Ramon knows that the surveys will offer different opinions, but that will lead to making the best decision for Snyder ISD.
“We want a person who will be out in the community, but fighting for Snyder ISD,” he said.
The survey includes questions about leadership skills, personal characteristics, relationships with the staff and community and knowledge of school finance.
It also includes three specific questions:
• What is the one talent or skill that the new superintendent should have to do this job well?
• What are three of the most outstanding features of the district?
• What are the three most pressing issues that the new superintendent will face?
While the position will not officially be advertised until Jan. 3, Ramon said the community survey is one of the first steps. He expects the board will receive several applications, especially since academic performances are improving.
“We are turning the corner academically and I think we will have some quality applicants,” he said.
The board has not announced a time when the survey will be taken down, but Ramon said people should complete it as soon as possible.
Current Superintendent Jim Kirkland’s contract runs through June.
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