Thursday, April 18, 2013
Superintendent from Lubbock, Texas will step in as leader of Fairfax County Public Schools on July 1.
Karen Garza was officially appointed Thursday as the next superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools. Garza, currently the superintendent of the Lubbock Independent School District in Texas, will start July 1. The school board approved Thursday a four-year contract for Garza, through June 30, 2017. Read: New Fairfax Superintendent: 'I Am A Constant Learner' In remarks after the unanimous vote, Garza said her primary focus will be on teaching and learning, "for that is our core work." "To our stakeholders, our employees, our parents and our business and community partners, I pledge to be responsive and accountable to all Fairfax County schools stakeholders," she said. Garza also said she planned to be "very visible," noting the best …
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Karen Garza, currently a superintendent in Texas, will likely become the next leader of Fairfax County Public Schools.
A "strategic planner, a systems thinker, a stellar manager, and a highly effective communicator" is how the Fairfax County School Board described Karen Garza, the Texas superintendent leaders announced as their preferred candidate for superintendent Wednesday. Garza, who for the past four years has led the 30,000-student district of Lubbock, Texas, will assume the role pending final negotiations and a board site visit to the Lubbock Independent School District (ISD). She will become the system's first female superintendent as she takes the place of current Superintendent Jack Dale, who retires June 30. Garza was selected from 47 applicants for the position, and came out ahead of the 18 other candidates who were interviewed largely because…
Friday, April 5, 2013
Fairfax County school board to talk with next round of candidates in coming weeks as Superintendent Jack Dale prepares to retire.
The Fairfax County School Board will continue to narrow its field of superintendent candidates in the next two weeks as it prepares to name a new system leader by May. At its meeting Thursday night, the school board approved a motion to discuss, consider and interview candidates for the division's superintendent "at one or more undisclosed locations" between April 5 and 19. Outgoing Superintendent Jack Dale announced in 2011 his plans to retire June 30 of this year. Last fall, the board selected Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates — the same consulting firm that found Dale in 2004 — to lead the current search process. While the board has focused more on community engagement in this search than in the one it used to hire Dale, it decided to…
Friday, December 7, 2012
As Fairfax County superintendent search forums continue, parents and staff place value on open, honest communication and a better understanding of budget.
Next summer, the leader of Fairfax County Public Schools could look like this: An educator with a strong economic background and experience in diverse school districts; a visible part of community discussions; someone who demands transparency, and on their own team, also embraces it; someone who could finally one-up the system's counterparts in Montgomery County. That was the picture painted by more than a dozen parents and system employees who met Thursday with Haazard, Young, Attea and Associates, the firm tasked with spearheading the search for a leader to replace Superintendent Jack Dale, who will retire in June. The meeting at the system's headquarters on Gatehouse Road in Falls Church was one of several this week designed to help …
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
In meeting with consultants, Fairfax County school board focuses on "two-tiered" engagement strategy to replace Superintendent Jack Dale
The Fairfax County School Board will use a "two-tiered public engagement process" to search for its next superintendent, board members said Monday during their first meeting with search consultants — a move likely to be welcomed by many residents who have said they felt "excluded" and "unheard" during the system's last search for a leader in 2004. Many of those residents carried the issue of how the search for Superintendent Jack Dale was conducted into last fall's school board elections; when asked on the campaign trail, several members now on the board said they would make the upcoming search and selection process more open and inclusive. Though the board's consultants, Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates led that search for Dale about …
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
A proposed contract for Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates — the same firm that hired FCPS Superintendent Jack Dale in 2004 — comes before the board Thursday.
The Fairfax County School Board is expected to select Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates as the consultants who will help lead the system in the search for its next superintendent. In a vote scheduled for Thursday, the full board will consider a contract for $35,000 for the same firm that found both Montgomery County Superintendent Joshua Starr in 2011 and current Fairfax County Superintendent Jack Dale in 2004. Dale announced last fall his plans to retire in June 2013. The contract also includes additional reimbursement of approved expenses, according to school board documents released Monday. The system received five proposals from search firms after sending a request for proposal for consultant services this summer, according to school…
Friday, July 27, 2012
Nine-member group will review bids from search firms next month
The Fairfax County School Board named nine members to a committee tasked with reviewing bids from superintendent search firms on Thursday night, putting the board on track to hire a consultant to lead the selection process by October. The board unanimously appointed members Sandy Evans (Mason), Pat Hynes (Hunter Mill), Megan McLaughlin (Braddock), Ilryong Moon (At-large), Elizabeth Schultz (Springfield), Kathy Smith (Sully), Dan Storck (Mt. Vernon), Janie Strauss (Dranesville, and Ted Velkoff (At-large) to the Division Superintendent Search RFP Selection Advisory Committee (SAC). Pat Hynes, the board's recently elected vice chairman, was appointed as chairman of the committee. Schultz was absent from Thursday night's vote. Superintendent …
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Members aim to hire consultant by October
The Fairfax County School Board took its first step toward hiring a new superintendent this week, moving forward with a formal solicitation for a search consultant. Superintendent Jack Dale, who was hired in 2004, announced last fall his plans to retire in June 2013. To hire a superintendent by the end of April, the preference of some board members who spoke at a Monday work session, would be "aggressive" while following a formal process, said Tony Cross, director of procurement services. The board would have to hire a consultant no later than October, Cross said. In an informal solicitation process, the board would accept bids from at least four vendors, Cross said, a smaller pool that would allow it to focus on the small group of …
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
In meeting with Fairfax school board, Maryland officials stress discretion, unity in search for schools chief
On most days, Fairfax and Montgomery County Public Schools are competitors on nearly all fronts, both within the greater Washington area and among the large, elite schools systems across the country. But as Fairfax approaches its first superintendent search in nearly a decade, its Maryland counterpart across the river has also become arguably one of its best resources. On Monday, Montgomery County Board of Education members offered school board members insight into MCPS' recent search for a new schools leader, an eight-month process that concluded last April when it hired Joshua Starr. Fairfax County Superintendent Jack Dale announced last fall he would step down from his post as schools chief when his contract expires in June 2013, …
Lee
5:42 pm on Monday, April 22, 2013
Ugh, "what about the kids?" If I had a penny for every time someone said that... Michael below is correct. I remember this being debated a year or two ago announced his Superintendent Dale announced his retirement and the search was starting. The problem is that many of the applicants are in positions where if it were known they were talking with other systems they'd either be terminated or their… more ›