Similarly, respondents ranked skills related to leadership above the skills like curriculum knowledge, public relations, or experience with innovative technology.
“It’s all very positive,” Ruth Kozal, SBPS school board president, told the Star-Herald.
For Kozal, the data will be used as supporting information as she and other board members interview and evaluate the candidates. Kozal said that other groups who interview the candidates, like teachers and administrators, will also use this data in their evaluations.
SBPS is searching for Rick Myles’s replacement. Myles led the district for 11 years. His tenure ends what the survey, board members and community members suggested has been an overall upward trend for the Panhandle’s largest school district.
Nevertheless, Myles’ successor will inherit a district navigating several challenges, most urgently COVID-19. Myles, along with the Board of Education, elected to reopen their buildings for in-person education. While Myles and other administrators lauded the educational benefits of in-person instruction, doing so came at a cost.
In November of 2020, Myles penned a letter to the community that said COVID had sidelined over 40 teachers.
“We are short substitute teachers and our ranks of counselors, school administrators, paraprofessionals and maintenance staff are all significantly compromised,” Myles said in the November letter.
