Next Time: An Open Search

As a blogger and freelancer in 2007, I got to tell the beginning of the story on Schools Superintendent Steve Gallon III. Courier News reporter Mark Spivey followed its denouement through the courts after Gallon fell from grace through a series of missteps. Today’s online story points to a settlement that will likely write the end of Gallon’s saga as Plainfield’s chief school administrator.

When the school board initiates a new search for a superintendent, it is highly likely that city residents and district union leaders will insist on a more open process than the one that brought Gallon here, and one that will be informed by some of the qualities the community wanted in a new superintendent the last time, but which Gallon did not possess.

Coming from Florida, Gallon did not have the grasp of New Jersey school law and school finance that residents at a community forum said they desired. He had no experience with Abbott districts, as the neediest districts in the state were then called. While a proven leader as a principal, he had never served in the role that was the subject of a national search.

In retrospect, the secrecy of the search comes across as a mistake. In past searches, finalists appeared before the community to answer questions before one was selected. But a search consultant declared early on, “There will be no parading of candidates in front of the public.”

The search began in August 2007 with the hiring of an Illinois firm and ended in February 2008 with Gallon’s appointment.

Gallon made his first public appearance unannounced, late into a school board meeting where his very appointment was a “walk-in” item not on the agenda. It was a pretty stealthy move by the board, which had already kept a tight lid on all aspects of the search. The dinner with three finalists and the ultimate visit to Gallon’s home district were wrapped in mystery worthy of Harry Potter’s cloak of invisibility.

Whatever Gallon did once he arrived, he got here through a process for candidates that the board members at the time desired and the search firm carried out. One of the putative reasons for extreme secrecy was to avoid political interference in the process, and while it is true that Plainfield tends to be rife with intrigue, the board’s antidote to behind-the-scenes machinations came off looking remarkably similar.

“Transparency” lately has become a buzzword used to cover all sorts of situations, but if the district hopes to keep the revolving CSA door from spinning yet again, the next search needs to be as open as possible. The district has endured a loss of morale as well as trust, and the next superintendent will have to build up both while leading it out of poor performance. The oft-mentioned “stakeholders” deserve to know more up front about those who seek the job.

--Bernice