Experience is Key for Potential New St. Charles Superintendent

The perfect new superintendent for the should have a doctorate degree and at least three years of experience as an administrator, the district Board of Education decided Tuesday.

The board created a list of expectations for the person who will replace current Those expectations will be publicized in July when the district starts actively recruiting for the position.

The board also decided not to publish a salary range for the position. Charles's salary was $193,616 in 2011. Charles said most candidates will likely look at his salary to get a sense of the amount of money the district is likely to offer.

Board member Wayne Oetting said he thinks the salary should be commensurate with experience.  He said someone who has less experience than Charles should not get a similar salary.

“If we found somebody who was a cracker jack and we thought they might be here for 10 or 15 years and we think they can replace (Charles), we might be willing to pay them more,” he said.

The board also decided the new superintendent won’t be required to live in the city of St. Charles, a requirement for Charles when he took the job.

“If I understand it correctly, what I think I understand the board’s concern is, you want to make sure the superintendent is involved and visible to the community,” said Charles. He added the board can let the candidates know it would prefer someone live in the city without making it a requirement.

Board of Education member Wayne Oetting said if someone has to relocate to the St. Louis area for the job, he or she might not want to live within the city limits.  He said the important thing is that the person plays an active role in the community.

Input from Parents, Staff

Community members will have a chance to weigh in on what characteristics they would like to see in a new superintendent during the search process. Charles said he would survey administrators, teachers, staff, parents and community on the issue in August and provide that information to the board.

Applications for the job would be due Sept. 16. Then the board of education will screen applications and select candidates for an initial interview. Those candidates would be narrowed to four, and then a committee comprising community, staff, teachers and administrators would have the opportunity to meet with the candidates and offer feedback. It’s still unclear how members of that committee would be selected.

Board member Tim Bekebrede said he thinks the board should at least listen in on those community meetings so they can understand recommendations from the committee. He said he’s heard from people who have served on committees who are frustrated that they provide input and the board then ignores those recommendations.

Charles said the key is to make sure the committee members know they are just being asked to provide feedback, not to rank the candidates.

"If you don't someone will come and think they were picking the superintendent," he said.