Community forums and meetings with teachers and other Richland School District stakeholders are planned over the next few weeks as part of the process of finding a new superintendent.
The Liberty Lake-based Northwest Leadership Associates has been hired to coordinate the search. The district's current superintendent, Jean Lane, plans to retire at the end of this school year.
The meetings will provide "feedback so (the firm) can develop what the community and board want in the new superintendent," Board President Rick Jansons said Tuesday.
He provided an update on the process during the board's regular meeting.
Meetings are scheduled with groups such as the district's teachers union and city employees. There also are three public sessions where community members can share what they want in a new superintendent.
Those forums are: 7 p.m. Thursday at Chief Joseph Middle School, 3:30 p.m. Sept. 29 at Enterprise Middle School and 7 p.m. Sept. 29 at Richland High.
District residents also can fill out an online survey. A link is on the district's website, www.rsd.edu.
The school board also has a vacancy because Pete Knollmeyer recently resigned to move out of state. People interested in filling his seat have until noon Thursday to apply. Six applications have been picked up from the district office and so far one has been turned in, Jansons said.
Also Tuesday, the board discussed plans to run a replacement maintenance and operations levy next year.
The board will be deciding on the election date, the length of the levy and how much to ask for at upcoming meetings.
Maintenance and operations levies help districts pay for expenses -- such as security staff and art and sports programs -- that aren't fully covered by the state. The Kennewick and Pasco school boards also have been discussing plans for 2010 levies at recent meetings.
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The Pasco School District held the forum to gauge public opinion while it is pondering solutions to free up space in its schools. Eleven more meetings are scheduled to prepare parents for the possible transition.
The proposed schedule change means there would be no more long, shared summer break at the elementary schools, which would begin to include sixth-graders. High and middle schoolers' schedules would remain the same, meaning they would be in school while their younger siblings are off for staggered 20-day periods throughout the year.
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"They'd probably be the first to go if we didn't continue (the levy)," said Justin Raffa, chairman of the Richland Citizens for Good Schools committee.
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