Chesapeake likely to hire firm to aid in superintendent search

CHESAPEAKE

Fifteen years ago, Chesapeake School Board members didn't need to hire a search firm to find their next superintendent.

They simply advertised the job opening to internal candidates, said Maury Brickhouse, who was the chair at the time. A few applied, the School Board conducted interviews and one of them ended up being W. Randolph Nichols. He 's been the superintendent ever since, until his departure becomes official June 15.

Today, Chesapeake is once again on the hunt for a new schools leader, and it's a different story - one not everybody is happy about.

The School Board already has requested bids from search firms who likely will help with the hunt - a first in the division's 47-year history.

Although t he scope of the search has not been decided, it seems likely it will extend beyond Chesapeake, covering Virginia and possibly the surrounding states. A few board members have tossed around the idea of a national search.

In a school system that has had four superintendents since 1963, all from within the system, some are calling the decision a paradigm shift.

Supporters of a broader search say it would better serve a school system that has seen tremendous growth and development since Nichols was appointed in 1995.

"You do things differently when you become larger," said board Chairwoman Sheila Hill-Russ. "We just felt it was a good opportunity to see what's out there. We can learn and grow ourselves and learn about what's going on in other divisions."

But Brickhouse said it's an example of Chesapeake's leaders getting too big for their britches.

"I grew up here, and I've learned to keep a good perspective on who you are - and to keep a good perspective on who you're not," Brickhouse said. "They should be very, very, very careful before they spend money just to satisfy someone's ego."

At a hearing in December, leaders of multiple employee groups, including the Chesapeake Education Association and the Chesapeake Association of Public School Administrators, urged the School Board to select a new leader from homegrown talent.

Chesapeake schools is like a family, said Cheryl Stockton, a former elementary school teacher of the year. "You don't look outside your family for its next leader," she said.

That continuity has been key to the city's educational success, some say.

"I think it served us well then. I don't know why it wouldn't serve us well now," said board member Thomas Mercer Sr. "We've always had that Chesapeake public schools family, and I fear we're going to lose that trying to be... a big system at all costs."

But Chesapeake's system has changed a great deal since Nichols' appointment. At one point, the school system was gaining students at the rate of more than 1,000 per year. It now has 38,500 students, making it a larger school system than Norfolk. Two new high schools and several elementary and middle schools have opened in the past 15 years.

"Everything has just grown up," said board member Christina Pullen. "The school division, like the city, is growing up and things just really are changing. We're more modern, a little bit more worldly."

While most employees at the December hearing urged an internal search, several of Chesapeake's business associations pushed the board to go national.

"The size of the Chesapeake school system requires a national search," said Kevin Cosgrove, chairman of Chesapeake's Chamber of Commerce. "Our school system, simply put, needs the best superintendent possible."

Hiring a search firm can cost tens of thousands of dollars, depending on various factors. When Virginia Beach hired a search firm to find current superintendent Jim Merrill, it cost the division $40,000 plus expenses.

But those in favor of the move call the cost an investment in the school division's future.

Employees look warily at school divisions, including Virginia Beach, that have done wide-spanning searches in the past, only to see top candidates drop out at the last minute, or move on after just a few years.

But board members who support a larger search say they're looking for search firms with track records of placing executives who stay on for long periods of time.

They also said they hope being transparent about the process, and providing lots of opportunities for public input along the way will help quell anxiety about outside candidates.

Chesapeake isn't the same school system it used to be, Pullen said, but it can broaden its horizons without losing its character.

"It's a warm, fuzzy school division," she said. "We're not looking to change that at all. But that doesn't necessarily mean that we can only get that from within the system."

The board hopes to have a replacement selected before Nichols leaves in June.

Alicia Wittmeyer, (757) 222-5216, alicia.wittmeyer@pilotonline.com