Superintendent Search Survey Results Released

With more than 550 people chiming in on what they want in the next superintendent of the Falls Church City Public Schools, the search committee can move forward in the process.

More than 76 percent say the next superintendent should be able to effectively advocate school issues and needs, according to the results of the FCCPS Superintendent Search Criteria Survey released Friday.

Current Superintendent Lois Berlin announced Nov. 2 that she is retiring in June after the closing of schools for summer break.

"We have to have a new superintendent in place by July 1," FCCPS spokeswoman Marybeth Connelly said Friday. "The timeline is vague, we just know there will be a decision by the spring."

A three-person search committee comprising city school board members is overseeing the process. At a work session Wednesday, the board started developing its own criteria for the next superintendent, separate from the survey's results.

The board will meet again Dec. 14 to work on the criteria and possibly again on Dec. 21 to finalize the list.

The last day to apply for the soon-to-be superintendent vacancy is Jan. 7.

School board Chair Joan Wodiska said she could not say how many people have applied for the position.

More than 48 percent of the people surveyed would prefer the next superintendent come from within Virginia. More than 66 percent believe the next superintendent should be well-respected and be of high integrity. Another 58 percent believe the next superintendent should be a decisive leader.

Wodiska said she is not surprised by the amount of people who completed the survey. Since Berlin's retirement announcement, the school board has held six public hearings to get the stakeholders' input before board members gave their own ideas, she said.

The board will continue to keep the public updated as the search process continues.

"There was a tremendous amount of people who completed the extensive survey," Wodiska said Friday. "That speaks to the public's support of public education in Falls Church. They truly care about who the next superintendent will be."

Check out the survey

To see the survey and get the breakdown of all the questions and responses, go to: www.fccps.org/supersearch/SuperSearch_results.pdf. You can also visit the search committee's website at: www.fccps.org/supersearch.