Hamilton Southeastern Schools has faced a number of challenges in recent months. There have been issues on race relations. The district must find $5 million in budget savings in the coming school year due to a COVID-related drop in student numbers. Like most school districts around the nation, trying to have in-person classes while protecting the health of students and staff during a pandemic has been a challenge.
There are more I could list, but the most important decision school board members face is the hiring of a new superintendent. The current superintendent, Allen Bourff, has announced his intention to retire at the end of June this year. The board has announced a new superintendent should be named at the Wednesday, March 24 meeting.
The seven board members have been gathering the past two weeks in executive session to interview candidates for the opening. State law allows this be done in private.
In a board session on Feb. 23, Board President Janet Pritchett said she was pleased with the candidates and expects she and her fellow board members will be faced with “a difficult choice.”
The board has one more executive session set for Thursday, March 4, presumably aimed at discussing the new superintendent. Once the board decides on a candidate, a contract must be agreed upon before the decision is finalized.
Pritchett said the board will “hopefully” announce the new superintendent at the March 24 board session.
In the Indiana legal code, under “General Powers and Duties of School Corporation,” the first one listed is to appoint the superintendent of schools. The board also has the responsibility to evaluate the superintendent.
The decision being made now by the Hamilton Southeastern Board of School Trustees will have a major impact on the community for many years to come. The decision on appointing the person to lead the local school system, the fourth-largest in the state, will tell the community a great deal about how education moves forward in Fishers and the outlying areas served by HSE Schools.