Brookfield Starts Search For New Superintendent

The search for Brookfield Central School District’s next superintendent will take six months.

Dr. Patricia Kilburn, District Superintendent of Oneida-Herkimer-Madison BOCES, gave a 30-minute presentation to the BCS Board of Education last week on how to conduct a search.

Brookfield is seeking a permanent superintendent after coming to an agreement for former Superintendent Ron Pavlus to step down last year.

Ron Wheelock, retired superintendent of Sauquoit Valley, was appointed interim.

Kilburn outlined the options for the search.

Board members could do it on their own, which usually happens when there is an internal candidate who will become supervisor.

A consultant firm can be hired.

The third option is to use OHM BOCES, with Kilburn as the consultant, at no charge.

Kilburn, who has conducted superintendent searches 15 times and helped districts find an interim 26 times, said only the Board of Education can hire the superintendent.

While input can be taken from the community, hiring a superintendent remains one of the primary roles of a Board of Education, she said.

The six months for a search, she said, involves a lot of behind the scenes work before finalist candidates are interviewed.

Board members have to commit to seven or eight meetings of at least three hours, she said, which are scheduled at the beginning of the process.

These meetings include reviewing applications, discussing candidates and interviews with finalists.

Those dates need to be locked in early, Kilburn said, for candidates to plan their time.

She stressed that confidentiality must be maintained.

Only one person gets the job, Kilburn said, and those who do not could have problems in their current job if it becomes known they were applying.

If the BCS Board chooses Kilburn to lead the search, she will screen all candidates and schedule the process to narrow the selection.

These include:

*Soliciting feedback from the community about the District, its challenges and what they want in a superintendent;

*Vetting the candidates, starting with qualified and nonqualified ones. The Board will ...