DPS Plans Special Meeting to Consider Search Firms

The first step to find a replacement for Durham Public Schools’ former superintendent: hire a search firm.

On Wednesday, the DPS Board of Education is set to discuss possible finalists to interview for the job of handling the search to replace Dr. Pascal Mubenga. Mubenga left his job after seven years over the controversy stemming from the classified worker pay crisis that resulted in staff call-outs, transportation tangles, and scores of angry employees.

The board is expected to start interviewing finalists on March 18, with the goal of choosing the search firm during the March 21 regular meeting.

The selected search firm will:

• Provide an outline of recommendations for search process and timeline.
• Meet with board members to clarify and determine views regarding desirable qualifications, experience, and characteristics of candidates.
• Engage community, staff, students, and other stakeholders.
• Prepare position description.
• Handle advertising, solicitation of candidate applications, background screening.
• Prepare summaries from conversations and surveys with staff, students, parents, community, and stakeholders.

Potential search management candidates include:

• A Chicago-based firm that can handle monolingual Spanish focus groups.
• An Omaha-based company with a team member who used to lead Cabarrus County Schools.
• An Arlington Heights, Ill., company that works in “politically charged environments.”
• A company in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, that includes on its team former DPS Board Member Minnie Forte-Brown.
• An Asheville boutique search firm run by two former DPS employees.
• An Illinois company that has conducted 60 searches in the past 10 years.
• The North Carolina School Boards Association.
• A solo operation based in Greensboro with no apparent prior search experience that seems focused on a more technical approach.

Alma Advisory Group

This firm, launched in 2016, is run by CEO Monica Santana Rosen. The company has previously worked with Guilford County Schools in North Carolina, Chicago Public Schools, and the School District of Philadelphia (among others).

“Alma’s community-centered, transparent, inclusive, and equity-focused approach to the search process and our ability to lead monolingual Spanish focus groups, stakeholder interviews and forums, set us apart from others in the executive search field,” Rosen wrote in her cover letter.

She estimated that the search for a new DPS superintendent would cost an estimated $96,044.

McPherson & Jacobson

The Nebraska-based company, owned by Dr. Norm Ridder, has been helping boards of education with searches like this since 1991.

“At the core of our firm’s work is the belief that every student is entitled to high quality education and that this is dependent upon quality leadership,” Ridder wrote in his cover letter. “We understand that students have diverse needs, thus, we focus on the intentional recruitment of a diverse candidate pool that includes ethnic and cultural identity, as well as experience in culturally proficient practices that have proven successful in addressing educational equity gaps.”

The company previously worked with school districts in Florida, George, South Carolina, but is new to North Carolina. However, team member Dr. Christopher Lowder – a UNC graduate – has worked previously as superintendent of Cabarrus County Schools.

McPherson & Jacobson estimated the search process would cost $44,290, excluding interview expenses for the candidates.

Hazard, Young, Attea Associates

This firm, based in Arlington Heights, Ill., was established in 1987.

“Of note, is HYA’s experience working in politically charged environments,” their proposal states.

They’ve worked with Prince George’s County in Maryland, Atlanta Public Schools in Georgia, and the Los Angeles Unified School District in California, to name a few.

The proposed search cost, per HYA: $60,000, plus reimbursements for travel.

Ray and Associates

This company is based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Minnie Forte-Brown, former member of the DPS Board of Education, is part of the team that would conduct the next search. The proposal package points out that Ray and Associates previously assisted DPS in the placement of a superintendent.

Ray and Associates estimated that the search would cost $40,400.

Summit Search Solutions, Inc.

Two former DPS employees run this company, which is based in Asheville, N.C.

Dr. Todd LoFrese was interim chief operating officer in 2023, while Arasi Adkins served as assistant superintendent for human resources. They offer a fixed project fee of $45,000.

BWP & Associates

This firm is based in Libertyville, Ill., and has conducted 60 superintendent searches during past 10 years, including Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Minneapolis Public Schools in Minnesota, and Rochester City Schools in New York. They proposed costs of $34,000 plus expenses.

North Carolina School Boards Association

This Raleigh-based organization looks like the lowest bidder, estimating a cost of $21,500 plus expenses.

“While we only assist school boards in North Carolina, we do not confine our outreach to in-state applicants,” wrote Sam Thorp of the NCSBA. Thorp is the association’s legal counsel for superintendent searches. “Rather, we seek qualified candidates from across the country.”

inBits

This company, based in Greensboro and founded in 2022, is run by Nolan Jones. He promotes a “Technical-Human-Ecosystem” (THE) methodology. The proposal indicates that Jones “has 40 years of experience at augmenting human resources, graph analytics, AI and machine learning, business intelligence, program management, project management, architecting and implementation of technical systems around the world.”

According to the inBits submission, which seems almost like it could’ve been generated by ChatGPT: “DPS should partner with inBits, because we understand systems and have the experience of implementing different types. Also we analyze and identify the traits, qualifications, and experiences that are needed, by an executive, in order to understand, oversee and direct the functional components of an educational system. A ‘system focused’ and ‘bi-directionally linked’ superintendent is needed in order to produce the desired educational outcomes that are mandated by the government and expected by the local community.”

The proposal from inBits warns that sticking with “executive search firms” using “best practices” will result in “less-than-desirable” student outcomes. Jones made a similar proposal to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in 2023.

He didn’t list any prior experience with candidate searches. Jones included his resume, which indicates his clients have included DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, IBM, AT&T, Oracle, and Delta Airlines.

Jones estimated that a search run by inBits would cost $70,400.

Join our free Discord server for subscribers!