Heights Superintendent Search: Public Input Wanted

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH — Cleveland Heights-University Heights Schools are looking for public input on the search for the next superintendent of the district. With Talisa Dixon's departure for Columbus looming, a national hunt for her replacement has begun.

Dixon will join the Columbus Schools in March, a few months before the end of the 2018-2019 school year. The early exit will leave the Heights Schools without a leader and has sparked outrage from the Board of Education.

"We must express strong concerns about the integrity of the Columbus Board of Education and how this process has played out. We approached Dr. Dixon's departure with good faith that Columbus would honor the need for her to complete the school year. With disregard, they chose otherwise," the CHUH Board of Education said in a blistering statement.

An interim superintendent will need to be appointed in March, by the time Dixon officially leaves the district. The full-time superintendent is expected to start shortly before the 2019-2020 school year.

As part of the thorough search for Dixon's replacement, the Board of Education wants to gather public input on what qualities should be sought in a superintendent. To weigh in on the topic, click here.

Survey responses are due in by Dec. 19, 2018.

Applications for the superintendent position will be due in January 2019, though a specific date has not yet been settled on. Interviews and the candidate selection process will start in February, the district said.

Dixon leaves the Heights Schools on March 4, 2019. Her three-year contract with Columbus Schools runs through the 2021-2022 school year and comes with an annual salary of $242,000. Columbus Schools is the largest public district in Ohio.

The Columbus Schools announced Dixon as their next superintendent in late September, but producing an agreeable contract took slightly longer than expected. Columbus School officials said they wanted Dixon to take over her new position on January 1, 2019. That may have been a sticking point in the negotiations.

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