Lancaster ISD begins hunt for hunters for new superintendent

by Jeff Melcher

The companies who conduct the search for new superintendents will make their pitches to get the Lancaster ISD business at two meetings, the first at noon on Saturday, April 18 and the second at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 19 (both links are PDFs).

No indication of how long each meeting is expected to last.

Already this week the LISD has taken steps to select a replacement for the recently departed Cheryl Peoples. Ms Peoples left shortly after ex-superintendent Larry Lewis was offered notice of termination. TEA financial conservator Jim Damm, with the assistance of budget analyst (and former LISD Business Manager Ted Warren) carried the district through a short interim period, and interim-superintendent Dana Marables hired an interim Chief Financial Officer -- Michael Fletcher, who worked with her in two prior districts -- to assist with the completion of the 2008 audit, the revision of current financial reports, and the selection of a new, permanent, CFO.

According to the district, Lancaster ISD interviewed five outstanding candidates for the Chief Financial Officer position on Monday, April 13, 2009. The applicant that is chosen as CFO will be presented before the board for approval in May.

Principal interviews will take place on Friday, April 17th

The public is invited to a Lancaster ISD "Town Hall Meeting" on Monday, April 20th. The interim superintendent will host from from 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. at the Centre Street Administration Building. Along with other items, Dr. Marable will highlight the International Baccalaureate Programme and the recent authorization of Pleasant Run for the Primary Years Programme.

The next meeting of the Lancaster Budget Advisory Committee will take place in the Lancaster High School Food Pavilion on Monday, April 27, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. So far the committee has identified several areas of concern. Interim CFO Mike Fletcher reported "Lancaster ISD is over staffed in certain areas such as campus administration/professionals and central administration/ professionals in comparison to our two neighboring districts." Staff is developing estimates of how the situation may be helped by attrition and the natural turnover of employees. There is no immediate planning for involuntary reassignments.