Plymouth-Canton School Board Takes First Step in Superintendent Search

After a workshop Tuesday evening, the Plymouth-Canton School Board is one step closer to finding at least a temporary replacement for the current superintendent, whose contract expires at the end of June.

The board hired Bob Hamet and Jim Rikkers, consultants in the superintendent search area, to help guide its plan for selecting a new district leader.

Hamet and Rikkers gave a presentation following Tuesday's regular school board meeting, where they recommended that the board find an interim superintendent as quickly as possible while continuing to search for a long-term replacement.

"Come June 30, you will have a leadership vacuum unless you take control now," Rikkers said, referring to the fact the the district will be losing several high-level administrators to retirement at the end of this school year and noting that a superintendent will need to be in place by then to help hire for those positions.

Rikkers also told the board that a proper superintendent search takes "13 weeks at a minimum" and that the Plymouth-Canton board doesn't have those 13 weeks at this point in the school year.

He and Hamet agreed that finding an interim leader should be the board's first priority, but they said board members should continue work on coming to a consensus on what they expect from a superintendent in the long term.

"I'm worried about the quality of candidates we're going to get, based on the fact that we can't agree on what we expect from a superintendent — and people know that," school board member Steven Sneideman said.

Rikkers commented on the divide the board experienced last September, when it , who had served for just two years.

"My personal feeling is that what we need here right now is stability," Rikkers said.

The board agreed to meet with Hamet and Rikkers at 5:30 p.m. Monday to start work on deciding which qualities it is looking for in an interim superintendent. The location of the workshop has yet to be determined.

Both consultants suggested that an internal candidate would be best for the interim position, but board President John Jackson said the board would look at external and internal candidates.