DPS Chooses Superintendent Search Firm

The Durham Public Schools Board of Education on Thursday selected Alma Advisory Group to find candidates for DPS to consider as replacements for Dr. Pascal Mubenga.

Mubenga left with a six-figure severance package after overseeing the failed rollout of a classified worker pay schedule. The contract with Alma Advisory Group is expected to cost $89,500. For that price, the firm will:

• Give board members an outline of recommendations for search process and timeline.
• Clarify and determine board member views about qualifications, experience, and other desirable characteristics of candidates.
• Engage community, staff, students, and other stakeholders.
• Handle advertising, solicitation of candidate applications, and background screening.
• Prepare summaries from conversations and surveys with staff, students, parents, community, and stakeholders.

Board Member Alexandra Valladares described the superintendent search as “a unique opportunity for us as a board to do this process in a clear way that the community can understand.”

Another member of the board, Millicent Rogers, expressed appreciation for all the organizations that applied, “especially the ones that came in for the interview and the lens that they bring to this work.”

Board Member Jovonia Lewis noted that the search firm isn’t choosing the next superintendent, but is helping to identify a pool of candidates from which the board can choose.

The board voted 4-3 to hire Alma Advisory Group, with Natalie Beyer, Jessica Carda-Auten, Millicent Rogers, and Emily Chavez supporting and Bettina Umstead, Lewis, and Valladares opposed.