School Board To Move Forward With Process To Replace Petruzielo

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The Cherokee County School Board on Thursday will hold a called meeting to decide whether to approve the process of finding the next superintendent of schools and to establish a committee that would screen applications for the position.

The meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 17 at the Historic Canton High School/School Board Auditorium.

The board on Sunday held a called work session to review options for selecting the replacement for Dr. Frank Petruzielo, who will retire in 2016.

The process, if approved, will authorize the office of School Board Attorney Tom Roach to facilitate the advertising of the vacancy and collection of applications for review by the board.

The advertising notice and brochure will be posted on the Cherokee County School District’s website on Sept. 18, 2015, and will direct applicants to contact Roach’s office for the official application.

Roach will also ask the Georgia School Boards Association to post the notice on its website and will advertise it twice in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Official applications and supporting materials will be due to the Roach’s office by midnight on Monday, Oct. 19, 2015.

The Board Review Committee will subsequently screen applications and supporting materials and determine which applicants will be interviewed by the full board.

During the work session on Sunday, current Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frank Petruzielo, at the Board’s request, shared his experiences with the process for selecting a new superintendent.

“I’m not here to influence in any way the school board’s decision as to who should be the next superintendent,” Dr. Petruzielo said. “That would not be an appropriate role for me; and that would not be an appropriate role for anyone other than the seven school board members.”

Based on the qualifications they are seeking in a superintendent and the competency of the superintendent’s senior staff members who may apply, the board determined there was no need to hire a search firm, which would be costly and not necessarily lead to applicants that would be a good match for the school district.

In an exercise led by Roach, school board members subsequently outlined qualifications they’re seeking in a superintendent. These included:

• Strong educational leader, advocate locally and statewide and spokesperson for public education, who has a knowledge of the local and Georgia political landscape;
• Commitment to a comprehensive education for all students and an understanding of our community and its diversity;
• Successful classroom teaching and school system superintendent or senior staff-level administrative experience;
• Proven record in school operations including with a system(s) that has faced significant enrollment growth, construction of new schools and redistricting;
• Strong management and communication skills;
• Desire to build upon the school district’s strong foundation, execute existing Board Policies, Strategic Plans and the Strategic Waiver School Systems contract, while also sharing the Board’s vision for the District’s future successes;
• Current or future residency in Cherokee County; and,
• Doctorate degree in education is preferred.

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