A Chicago-based firm with extensive experience in helping school districts from Maine to Madison, Wisc., find transformational leaders will guide Covington Independent Schools’ national search for a new superintendent.
The Covington Board of Education voted 5-0 on Thursday evening to hire Alma Advisory Group, a minority woman-owned education consulting and executive search firm that lists “authentic engagement with the community” as one of its core strengths. Alma’s hire kicks off a strategic, rigorous, and transparent search process that will feature multiple opportunities for the public to get involved, beginning in October.
Board Chairman Tom Haggard said the Board received seven proposals from around the country and interviewed five firms before selecting Alma as a partner in the Superintendent search, which he called the Board’s most important decision in the district for success over its next 200 years.
“Alma Advisory Group’s deep commitment to equity, transparency, and authentic community engagement reflects exactly what our district needs in this moment,” Haggard said. “We’re confident that Alma will help us attract and select a transformational leader — someone who shares our vision for excellence and who will champion the students, staff, and families of Covington. This national search is about more than filling a position — it’s about securing the future of our students.”
In its proposal to Covington, Alma Advisory Group touted its extensive national network and its rigorous search methodology as factors that enabled it to “consistently yield finalist pools that reflect the rich diversity of talent available in today’s educational leadership landscape.”
CEO Monica Santana Rosen said her firm and the Board of Education were united on the importance of involving parents, staff, community leaders, and others in the process. During previous superintendent searches, for example, the firm said it has been able to secure on average 15 survey responses for every 100 students enrolled, even in historically excluded or difficult-to-reach populations.
“We are honored to partner with the Board of Covington Independent Public Schools in this critical endeavor,” Rosen said. “It is clear to us that the Board is centering community voice to guide their efforts every step of the way. We are looking forward to getting started!”
The new Superintendent would take office at the end of the current school year, when current Supt. Alvin Garrison’s contract expires.
Haggard said the goal is to have the job posted before Thanksgiving, interviews after the beginning of the new year, and a new Superintendent named by March. Details on the public engagement – which will likely include town hall forums, focus groups, and on-line surveys – will likely be released by the end of the month.
In an op-ed published in the NKyTribune earlier this week, the Board’s five elected members said that new leadership is part of concerted effort to again make Covington a destination district for teachers and families that better prepares students for meaningful careers and successful lives. The Board has said it is looking for a leader who isn’t afraid to shake up the system where needed, who builds a positive culture that rewards innovation and doesn’t shrink from accountability, and who collaborates with the broader community.
The Board said that the Superintendent search will be guided by four principles and values: Openness and transparency. Rigorous community engagement. A focus on students with minimal disruption in this year’s learning. And a recognition of Covington’s diversity.
“By working together, we can make Covington Independent Public Schools a place where teachers want to teach and families want to send their children, where every Covington child who wants a world-class education can get one, and where graduates are proud to call themselves Bulldogs,” said a statement from the board.
Covington Independent Public Schools