The Montgomery County Board of Education voted Tuesday to hire Florida-based Greenwood Asher & Associates to conduct a national search for a new Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) superintendent following the resignation of former superintendent Monifa McKnight in February.
“We are committed as a board to finding the right leader for our schools,” school board President Karla Silvestre said at Tuesday’s board meeting. “… We will search until we are satisfied that we have identified the person able to provide the leadership, vision and experience needed to meet the needs of our community.”
The board said it is hiring Greenwood Asher & Associates of Miramar Beach by bridging a contract awarded to the firm by Montgomery College. The board agreed to pay the firm $126,000 for consulting and coaching services, plus optional additional services it may need, according to board documents.
According to Angela McIntosh-Davis, MCPS director of procurement, MCPS did not put out its own request for executive search firm proposals, but instead chose to ask for proposals from firms that are already doing business with the county as way to expedite the process.
The board then interviewed the firms that submitted proposals before deciding to hire Greenwood Asher & Associates under a “bridge contract,” she said.
Since February, MCPS has been led by interim Superintendent Monique Felder, who previously held administrator positions in MCPS and was appointed to the position after McKnight stepped down. McKnight’s resignation came in the aftermath of a scandal that revealed MCPS’ mishandling of employee complaints of sexual harassment and bullying against Joel Beidleman, a former middle school principal. Felder’s contract is set to expire June 30 and the school board intends to appoint a new superintendent by July 1.
Silvestre has previously said the board is looking internally and externally for a new superintendent.
Before the board voted unanimously to hire the firm, Silvestre said Greenwood Asher & Associates has a “national reputation and an impressive track record.” The firm was one of five under consideration by the board, she said.
Greenwood Asher & Associates conducts executive searches for leaders in kindergarten through 12th grade to higher education, private industry and nonprofit organizations. In its role, the firm is expected to lead the search and guide the board through the process, according to board documents.
Silvestre said the board decided to choose a firm with a scope that “extends beyond [kindergarten through 12th grade] because we believe that they will bring both a more expansive pool of candidates and a fresh perspective.”
Board Vice President Lynne Harris (At-Large) said she appreciated that the firm offered an “interestingly fresh approach” to the search process as compared to search firms previously hired by the board. The board hired Illinois-based Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates to conduct the search for McKnight as well for at least three previous superintendent searches.
Greenwood Asher & Associattes has a very “unique way of looking at the diverse candidate pool that [the board is] interested in seeing, and how they would access [candidates] and encourage them to see MCPS as a system that they would want to work in,” Harris said Tuesday.
Harris also said the firm was forthright about how many school systems in the country are also searching for superintendents and how the recent scrutiny of MCPS over the Beidleman scandal might impact the search for qualified candidates.
“There’s a lot of competition out there and they were very, very open about that reality, but not at all dissuaded from their interest in working with us to do this work,” Harris said. “I think it will be a good experience for all of us.”
Student board member Sami Saeed said using a new firm “demonstrates and highlights [the board’s] interests in really ensuring we are taking a new approach this year.”
“I think it reiterates our commitment to transparency and kind of ensuring the community that we are doing new processes so that they can have more faith and trust in us,” Saeed said.
As part of the search process, the board is holding three in-person community forums this week to find out what the community is looking for in the next superintendent.
The forums will be held at 6 p.m. on:
- Tuesday at Seneca Valley High School, 19401 Crystal Rock Drive, Germantown;
- Wednesday at Richard Montgomery High School, 250 Richard Montgomery Drive, Rockville; and
- Thursday at Wheaton High School, 12401 Dalewood Drive, Silver Spring.
RSVP for the public forums at this link.
On April 10, the Student Member of the Board Advisory Council will hold a student forum on the superintendent search to ensure that student voices are also being heard, Saeed said.
