Alva Review-Courier -

The Alva Board of Education held a special meeting Monday at noon to hear a proposal from the OSSBA to provide search services for superintendent candidates for the Alva school system. Superintendent Steve Parkhurst has told the board he will retire at the end of the fiscal year.

tephanie Hyder, of the Oklahoma Secondary School Board Association, explained that search services are available from them because the Alva district is a member. The cost is not free, with a basic price of $6,000. There are also a half-dozen add-on options. For example, at $550 per candidate, a more thorough than usual background check can be ordered. The OSSBA will list the Alva job opening in a free list if asked if they choose not to sign the $6,000 contract. The OSSBA will provide interview guidelines, and coaching on what questions would be legally dangerous to ask. Also, if desired, they would help arrange community forums if the board was interested in citizen input. They also offer an opportunity for online surveys from the community.

All applicants for the superintendent job would fill out an online form. The OSSBA does not want to utilize paper forms as this is expensive and not nearly as fast as permitting board members to review online applications that are available immediately.

Hyder said, "The Oklahoma State School Boards Association Superintendent Search Service offers maximum flexibility to the board and assures the board has total control of the decision-making process. The search team performs the legwork associated with the search, allowing the board to concentrate on the most critical steps in the search – setting the criteria, interviewing the most qualified candidates and selecting the next superintendent."

When asked about how many job applications should be reviewed, Hyder said, "That's up to you, but at other schools, five or six typically have the first interview. Then another interview is set up for one or two finalists." She offered to find candidates not only from Oklahoma but from adjoining states as well.

The OSSBA will provide marketing support, including press releases and establishing a web page about the Alva District for interested candidates to review. They also assist with candidate travel scheduling.

Board member Shane Hansen expressed a bit of shock at the $6,000 price. Hyder replied that actually, the OSSBA was the least expensive she was aware of, with the fee in many states around the $10,000 mark. She also said if a private consulting firm was hired, the price would likely be in the $30,000 – $40,000 range.

She emphasized that they would strive for total anonymity of candidates' names except for school board members. They do not want other candidates to know who was being interviewed. She described a scenario at the Alva administrative offices where a candidate would enter at the front door, and after being interviewed, be directed to the back door to leave. Many superintendent candidates would not want their local board to know they were job hunting. Parkhurst asked if internal candidates (Alva district employees) would fill out the online job application, and Hyder said, "Yes."

The Alva board elected to not take any action on hiring the OSSBA to help in the search, preferring to wait until the next regular board meeting in one week, on Dec. 4, to make a decision