Boerne ISD picks six to interview
The Boerne ISD Board of Trustees will interview six applicants this week, in hopes of finding its next school superintendent.
Butch Felkner, director of the executive search services division for the Texas Association of School Boards, met with the board Tuesday in executive session to start reviewing the 30 applications received for the position.
“When the applications come in, I generally go through them to see what, and who, is coming in,” Felkner said.
Boerne Superintendent Dr. Thomas Price announced in June that he will be retiring at the end of the current academic year in June 2024. He has been Boerne’s school chief for seven years, capping a 37-year educational career.
Felkner and the board were together for about 2½ hours on Oct. 17 to decide which applicants will receive invitations for interviews.
“We usually suggest six (applicants to interview),” Felkner said. “Usually, the search process will go from six to three for a second round, and then from three to the lone finalist.”
'In alignment with the results of the online community survey and input from in-person meetings by our search firm with community members, the applicant group was narrowed down to the top six candidates,” Carlin Friar, president, Boerne ISD Board of Trustees, said.
Among the factors considered were applicants’ highest level of experience; the size of the districts they have worked in; the academic performance of their existing district; experience within fast-growth districts; their ability to effectively communicate needs to those communities in passing bonds; and their efforts in working collaboratively with other governmental entities within the boundaries of their district.
“We now look forward to in-person interviews to further narrow the search for a Superintendent who will continue to build on the successes of Boerne ISD,” Friar said.
Felkner described the first round of interviews as “structured” and the second as the opportunity for trustees to “dive deep” into the applicant’s resume, achievements and desires.
Bryan Benway, Boerne ISD director of communications, said when Boerne hired current superintendent Dr. Thomas Price, he was one of 70 applicants.
But Felkner, a past president of the National Affiliation of Superintendent Searchers, said the selection pool for superintendents has declined in recent years.
“We’ve noticed … the numbers have dropped, dramatically,” Felkner told the board in late August, when it launched its search. “We used to run 50, 60, 70 names of applicants. Now we’re running somewhere in the 30s to the 40s.”
But the bottom line, Felkner said, “is finding the one. We’re looking for one. We’re looking for quality, and not so much the quantity of the numbers.”
Felkner said many superintendents find the Boerne position to be particularly attractive, in a day and time when schools are being heavily scrutinized.
“Boerne is a great location with the traditions it has, the academic standing,” he said. But most importantly is the cooperation and coordination evident between the board and its leader.
“The work between its former superintendents and the boards have made (Boerne) a strong, attractive district,” he said.
“When you find superintendents and board working together, that speaks volumes,” he said.
“Those are some of the compelling things that the district has to offer. For superintendents wanting to move up in their careers, that’s attractive to them.”
After the six are interviewed this week, Felkner said, a second round of interviews will take place the week of Nov. 7, before the board must choose a lone applicant sometime in December.
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