Most job seekers know the feeling of being locked in a private office, squirming in a chair while a steely-eyed interviewer scrutinizes the resume and then asks probing questions.
But imagine applying for a job in public, with a group of interrogators firing off questions and openly passing judgment on your merits.
That’s what five finalists for Elgin Area School District U-46 superintendent had to contend with recently as the school board included the community in the job search.
“I think this is both historic and unprecedented,” said Robert Erickson, school board president. “We think it’s very important that the selection process incorporate input from the wide community we serve.”
As part of the process, finalists met separately with the school board and with the 20-member superintendent selection committee made up of parents, teachers and representatives from employee groups.
But the candidates also addressed audiences at schools, where they fielded questions on topics including the district’s budget troubles and gangs in the schools.
The finalists have now been trimmed to three, with the school board and selection committee slated to review the candidates at a special meeting Wednesday. A final decision is expected next week.
District 46, which serves more than 29,000 students, has been hit by soaring enrollment, a reduction in state aid, and the state’s cap on the amount collar-county governments can raise their tax rates annually.
The district is suffering from a deficit projected to reach $15.7 million by June.
There have been three teacher strikes since 1981, when current Supt. Richard Wiggall took office. He decided last summer not to seek an extension of his contract and will be assigned as principal of the Canton Middle School in Streamwood beginning in September.
Although the selection process may be good for morale and public relations in the state’s second largest school district, some experts question the effectiveness of an open interview forum.
“It’s very unusual and very difficult for the candidate,” said James E. Challenger, president of the Chicago-based Challenger, Gray & Christmas executive placement firm.
“Mass interviews are very destructive,” Challenger said. “You can’t satisfy everybody and you end up starting out with some people feeling you are not the right person for the job.”
But the candidates for superintendent said they saw no problems in addressing the community groups.
“In my job, I do that every day, so it was not a particular challenge,” said Marvin Edwards, superintendent of the Dallas Independent School District.
Edwards, who served as superintendent of the Joliet High School District from 1980 to 1985, said he spent about two hours at Elgin High School answering questions on gifted education, school safety and security.
Edwards said he was well aware of the district’s financial problems. “That doesn’t frighten me at all,” Edwards said. He added that the Dallas school system, which has 140,000 students, is troubled by some of the same issues as Elgin, including state funding.
He said his district recently passed a $275 million bond issue, and that he has the expertise to address the district’s money problems. Although the Dallas school district is considerably larger than Elgin’s, Edwards said he has had experience in working with smaller districts as well.
A native of Danville, Edwards is eager to return to his home state.
His current job pays $135,000. Wiggall’s base pay is $101,000. Administration officials said the salary for the new superintendent is still being negotiated.
Edwards said he didn’t think the finalists should feel awkward about addressing touchy topics as long as they were relevant to education.
“I just answered the questions fully and honestly,” he said.
He also said there was no apprehension about making it known publicly that he was applying for the District 46 job. Edwards said he informed the Dallas school board ahead of time that he was being interviewed in an open forum.
Rene Castilla, president of the Dallas school board, said he appreciated Edwards’ honesty, adding that there will be no repercussions should he not get the Disrict 46 job.
“At the risk of alienating us, he put it out there honestly,” Castilla said. “If he’s not successful, we’re not going to run him off.”
Other finalists also said they felt comfortable at the community forum interviews.
“I don’t feel that I was saying what they wanted to hear,” said Dennis McMahon, currently superintendent of Brighton (Mich.) Area Schools, which teaches 6,000 students from kindergarten to 12th grade.
McMahon, who said such forums are common in larger school districts in Michigan, used the setting to tell parents and teachers how his record in community involvement will help the ailing school district.
Although he comes from a smaller district than U-46, McMahon said that he is familiar with increasing school population. The Michigan district is growing by 200 students a year, he said.
The other finalist is Jack McLaughlin, superintendent of Hemet Unified School District in Hemet, Calif.
Gary Fields of the Kennewick, Wash., School District and Philip McDaniel of the Washington Township School District in Indianapolis withdrew their names from consideration last week.
Ken Kaczynski, co-chairman of the superintendent selection committee and chairman of the Citizens Advisory Council, a parents group, said that watching the finalists conduct themselves in front of large groups helped him in his evaluation.
“It has helped us to see how each of the candidates will react to different situations in the district and how they respond to questions,” said Kaczynski, who has three children in the district.
He said that although the board will make the final decicion, the selection committee has worked closely with the selection process and will submit its non-binding recommendation to the board.
Although the board may choose not to accept the selection committee’s candidate, Kaczynski said the process benefited from the involvement of parents, teachers and community residents.
“I think when our selection is made, we will have the best candidate for all of the people in District U-46, not just a select few.”
