BOE Begins Superintendent Search
By Editor at December 11, 2023 | 8:00 am | Print
On Monday, Nov. 30, the New Britain Board of Education voted to approve the Superintendent Candidate Profile and Demographic Profile of our system while also revising the job description for the Superintendent position.
The Superintendent Candidate Profile takes a look at numerous things, including leadership qualities, desired experiences, desired characteristics, the strengths/weaknesses of CSDNB and challenges the next superintendent will face in New Britain. The Demographic Profile provided a snapshot of key statistics and numbers within the school system.
The information on the Candidate Profile came from numerous sources, including the public survey that was available to the entire community where over 500 responses were received. Additionally, there were eight forums/focus groups that met between October 28 through November 13 to provide feedback on the school system and what they want to see in the next superintendent.
Essentially, the stakeholders of New Britain’s youth are looking for a strong instructional leader who can effectively communicate with staff, parents, students and community members. The focus groups said they are looking for a good listener, a person who values input, and provides timely feedback. The community is seeking a person who wants to become part of New Britain by living in the community, visiting the neighborhoods and joining local boards. This person must be able to work effectively and collaboratively to mitigate issues and barriers to student achievement; a person who will always place the diverse needs of New Britain’s children first. The next superintendent must develop a new vision to
address the multifaceted issues of current literacy rates, graduation rate, parental engagement, special education, English Language Learners and student poverty.
The Board of Education will focus its search in southern New England and New York and will handle the search itself. The budget for the search has been capped at $10,000, which will go primarily towards advertising the position in various newspapers along with numerous social media platforms. The position was posted on Dec. 6 and will remain open until Jan. 6. A new superintendent is expected to be named in April.
Sharon Beloin-Saavedra, president of the Board of Education, said the feedback she and other board members have received over the past several weeks will help steer the direction of the upcoming search.
“The community provided valuable input and insight to the discussion of what New Britain students and families want and need in our next Superintendent of Schools. Their message was received loud and clear - our stakeholders want a good communicator and a strong instructional leader with a vision for student growth that is clearly articulated and implemented,” Beloin-Saavedra said. “Our stakeholders want to be partners in the work and seek a leader with an inclusive and collaborative style. To be successful, most stakeholders believe urban experience is a must - someone who has worked and lived in diverse communities and is comfortable with and appreciative of multiculturalism.”
