1-27-2021 1:37am

Saline Board of Education to Host Special Meeting to Assess Help in Superintendent Search

The Saline Area Schools Board of Education has set a special meeting to begin its search for a permanent superintendent.

The board will meet from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Feb. 2, to review three firms that could be hired to help the district identify its next superintendent.

On Jan. 12, the district named Dr. Steve Laatsch Interim Superintendent until June 30. He replaces Scot Graden, who has retired from education after 13 years as Superintendent.

Board Trustee Dennis Valenti, the longest-serving member of the board, is chair of the district's search committee, which also includes Board President Jennifer Steben and Vice-President Michael McVey.

Valenti said hiring a superintendent is "probably the most important decision we will make in our tenure here."

Valenti did not name the search firms that will make 30-minute presentations to the board at the special meeting. He said two are firms "full-service search firms" and the other is a "consultant" that would serve in more of an advisory capacity, leaving the board to do more work. Valenti said it was critically important to hire the right superintendent - and get it right the first time.

"As a committee, we have to recognize and acknowledge what we don't know. We're not a professional search committee ourselves. We have to acknowledge that we need professional advice here and that's one of our first steps that we're going to be taking," Valenti said.

Valenti pointed to a time of turmoil in the district, before the hiring of Graden steadied the ship. The district had several superintendents during a short period of time.

"I can't imagine how disruptive that must be to all of the staff, the teachers, the parents and the students. We get it. We're going to do it right. We're going to do it professionally. And we're going to kick it off next week," Valenti said.

Secretary Susan Estep asked how the committee narrowed the field to three firms. Vice-President McVey said the committee checked with other districts who hired superintendents recently to see who they used. McVey said the committee chose Michigan firms. He said the board can choose to go in a different direction if it's not satisfied with what it sees at next week's meeting.

Trustee Aramide Boatswain said the district should consider alternatives that are not traditional.

"We have some social issues here that we're dealing with, beyond the pandemic," Boatswain said. She said whoever the district works with needs to understand the changing landscape in Saline.