Please take a stand for transparency and community involvement!

West Lafayette Community School Corporation has been conducting a superintendent search since the previous superintendent retired in June, 2021. Except for a survey and meeting to gather community input in August, before any candidates had applied, the search and hiring process has been held in complete confidentiality. By the end of November, the school board had apparently narrowed down the search to two candidates whose identities remained confidential until revealed in a Facebook post by an alumnus (https://www.facebook.com/groups/761174884467039/permalink/993548607896331/ It is likely that an announcement and possibly a vote will occur at the December 6th board meeting. 

This search process is not following a common practice. A quick search on google reveals that many school districts maintain confidentiality until the finalists are determined. At that point, the public is invited to participate in the process. Consider, for example, https://www.leaderpub.com/2015/01/12/superintendent-search-down-to-three/ In this superintendent search, where our current interim superintendent was one of the finalists, information about the finalists was provided, board members discussed their opinions, and town hall meetings were arranged to invite the general public to participate in the process. 

The new superintendent will serve the West Lafayette Community School Corporation for the next decade or even longer. He/she will play a critical role in shaping the future of the school district. We believe the general public (community members, taxpayers, parents, teachers, staff members, administrators, etc.) should have a say in this critical decision. Therefore, we believe that the final stage of the search should NOT be confidential and the public should have information about the finalists and provide feedback to the board to make decisions.

We call on the board to::

1. Delay any announcement or vote until the following conditions have been met.

2. Publicly release the names and professional backgrounds of the finalists.

3. Provide a town hall meeting with the finalists where community members have the opportunity to ask questions.

4. Provide an opportunity for the public to offer feedback to the board on final candidates prior to a vote. Publicly share the board’s reasons once a final decision has been made.

5. Reopen the search if only one candidate is currently under consideration.