Aurora names 3 regional directors as superintendent finalists

This tale initial appeared in Sentinel Colorado and is republished with authorization.

Candidates from across the country utilized for the purpose of the future Aurora Community Educational institutions superintendent, but the a few final candidates are all current or previous leaders in Aurora’s two university districts.

The faculty board introduced the 3 finalists at a particular conference Tuesday night, after deliberating in shut session for about two several hours. The finalists are:

• Nia Campbell, Aurora General public Schools’ current chief tutorial officer
• Michael Giles, Cherry Creek Schools’ assistant superintendent of equity, culture and group engagement
• Andre Wright, senior vice president at consulting firm MGT and former Aurora Community Schools’ chief academic officer

The faculty board voted 6-1 to announce the picked finalists, with board member Michael Carter the sole no vote. Carter declined to remark on his vote immediately after the assembly.

The board began the approach of looking for a new chief right after former Superintendent Rico Munn announced in December that he would not be trying to get to renew his current contract, which expires in July, and would step down a semester early. Munn explained his departure was prompted by a “conflict of vision” with the college board, which he has clashed with at periods.

The university board contracted with the company HYA, an instruction-focused look for business which has worked with a range of other metro districts, to lead the lookup. The agency held a sequence of local community meetings and concentrate groups in February to solicit comments on the method, discovering that men and women required the new superintendent to have a qualifications in community education, a keep track of record with range and practical experience in a significant school district.

In general, the district acquired 28 programs for the positions. At Tuesday’s conference, board president Debbie Gerkin said that 17 candidates had been adult males and 11 had been ladies. Eight candidates were being from Colorado, 7 were being from Texas and three had been from California, with the other 10 from states throughout the place, which include Alaska.

Six were being picked by HYA with the approval of the board to go on to more interviews. The semifinalists, who ended up not named, have been picked centered on the local community feedback gathered by HYA.

The board achieved in closed session on Sunday and Monday to job interview the candidates, a single of whom ended up dropping out of the process for undisclosed causes, in accordance to APS.

The remaining candidates are scheduled to stop by the district in particular person the 7 days of April 10, where each and every will shell out a full day touring educational facilities and meeting with APS students, staff and neighborhood customers. 

The board will then maintain extra interviews on April 17 and anticipates naming a designee in late April or early May possibly for an predicted get started date of July 1, Gerkin claimed.

Both of those the lookup firm and Gerkin have previously mentioned that the district had a solid applicant pool to attract from, and on Tuesday Gerkin claimed she was “extremely pleased” by the variety and top quality of candidates the search been given.

Munn experienced been with APS for practically a 10 years when he stepped down, creating him the longest-serving current superintendent amongst the state’s 5 premier districts. In the course of that time APS enhanced its graduation rates and narrowed the accomplishment gaps among white learners and students of colour, but also dealt with the educational fallout of the pandemic and a decline in enrollment. The latter problem led the district to implement a new extensive-expression facilities strategy that incorporated closing a number of district universities, which prompted backlash from family members and teachers.

The new superintendent will encounter a selection of issues, which includes navigating a divided university board, boosting pupil accomplishment put up-pandemic and addressing social problems these as a rise in youth violence and mental overall health fears. The superintendent will also be tasked with attempting to rebuild have faith in in the business, a thing that was highlighted as a problem in HYA’s report.

“The superintendent is the chief who sets the tone for everyone else in the firm,” Gerkin stated in an before job interview.

This is a creating story and will be current.

Carina Julig is a reporter for Sentinel Colorado covering schooling in Aurora. Make contact with Carina at [email protected].