Wake school board reviewing public feedback on what to look for in a new superintendent

The results from nearly 6,000 completed surveys are in.

Posted 7:04 p.m. Apr 28 — Updated 11:53 p.m. Apr 28

Emily Walkenhorst

, WRAL education reporter

CARY, N.C. — Wake County residents and school employees want a superintendent who listens to outside opinions, advocates for resources, creates safe and welcoming schools and has teaching experience.

That’s according to survey results that the Wake County Board of Education discussed Friday in a special meeting.

Current Superintendent Catty Moore will retire at the end of the school year after more than five years on the job and more than 30 years in Wake County schools.

The board received 28 applications for superintendent, though those applications haven’t been provided to the board yet. Applicants come from 13 different states and territories.

The school system surveyed community members and employees earlier this spring, asking them to rate how important certain characteristics and qualifications were in a new superintendent on a scale of one to five, with five being the most important.

Community members scored four characteristics as a 4.5 or higher: That the superintendent act with integrity, listen to input, provide a safe and welcoming environment and advocate for needed resources.

Staff scored the same four characteristics as a 4.5 or higher, along with a fifth: That the superintendent communicate across the community, with residents of different backgrounds.

Community and staff both favored a superintendent with prior teaching experience the most. They also favored principal experience to a lesser extent and did not prioritize prior administrative or superintendent experience.

More than 4,000 community members responded, most of them identifying as parents. Few students completed the surveyed and not quite everyone — just more than 3,500 people — said they lived in Wake County.

More than 1,700 employees responded, including more than 900 teachers.

The school system also received hundreds of written comments. It has not yet published those.

The board was given the written comments earlier this week and has met twice in closed session on the superintendent search. The comments, along with the rest of the surveys, are anonymous.

Demographic data taken with the survey show the respondents skew white and suburban, compared to the student population. Still, Sam Thorp, the board’s superintendent search consultant from the North Carolina School Boards Association, said the volume of responses was exceptional.

The School Boards Association is facilitating the superintendent search for the board.

Thorp has used the top 10 characteristics and qualifications from each group to compiled a “leadership profile” for the board to use when it reviews superintendent applications and interviews candidates in the coming weeks.

Only a few top 10 priorities different between staff and the community, but all received high priority marks from both staff and the community.

They aren’t surprising to some board members, either.

“The top 10 qualities that we’ve seen definitely resonate with me, as well,” Board Member Tyler Swanson said Friday.

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