A new direction for CSBA’s Executive Search Services 

CSBA’s Executive Search Services is rolling out a range of new services, tailored to the changing marketplace and tapping the latest advantages offered by computers and the Internet, under the seasoned guidance of its new director, Molly McGee Hewitt.

“The old model of business is shifting,” said McGee Hewitt, a former member of both the state Board of Education and the Anaheim Union High School District who’s previously served CSBA’s members as a consultant in Single District Governance Services and as a faculty member in the Masters in Governance program.

“We’re going to a more paperless, computer-based system that will serve our clients more efficiently and open it up to more candidates,” McGee Hewitt explained. She counted off a number of new initiatives, including:

• Expansion beyond ESS’s 30-year experience with recruitment of superintendents to also include placement of principals and mid-level administrators;
• Continued extension of services to Regional Occupation Programs and Centers;
• More online offerings, including Webinars and other board training and professional development programs, as part of CSBA’s broader “e-learning” initiatives that are now under development;
• A “do-it-yourself” search guide for small and medium-sized districts, including electronic templates for files, letters and other recruitment material as well as legal guidance and tips on where to advertise vacancies and how to interview candidates;
• Quarterly updates on pay data and other considerations that go into executive placements, which would replace ESS’s annual salary surveys; and
• A “candidates vault” allowing prospects from within and out of state to register with ESS, provide a profile of their background and indicate the type of district and community they hope to work in.

The enhancements are meant to address the shrinking number of qualified candidates due to retirements and professional concerns about declining enrollment, budget cuts and other challenges that school executives contend with, McGee Hewitt said. “It is getting more difficult to find experienced and prepared superintendents to fill the slots.”

ESS’s team of advisers, including current and former superintendents and educators, work closely with districts to provide a mix of candidates with a range of ethnicity, gender and age. Extensive background checks – which are also being expanded – scour candidates’ records to ensure that their professional experience and personal characteristics match districts’ desires.

“We make placements that work for people,” McGee Hewitt said. “We encourage boards to take a very active role. It’s the most important decision a board can make.”

ESS has successfully matched more than 1,000 qualified candidates with districts needing their services, and it is recruiting and screening prospects for 20 districts now, both rural and urban, and reflecting California’s geographic and demographic diversity.

At a time when one district in 10 has changed superintendents over the past five years, the long-term retention of ESS’s placements is a measure of the service’s success. An example is Ballard School District in Santa Barbara County, where former ESS client Superintendent Shirley Horacek is retiring.

“We placed her there 15 years ago,” McGee Hewitt noted.