Thursday, April 22nd, will be a very important day for the Fishers area.

No, I am not writing about the opening of Shake Shack in Fishers District, even though lots of locals are very excited about that.

Thursday is the day the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School District will announce the selection of a new superintendent, replacing the retiring Allen Bourff.  There are plenty of rumors about the new superintendent, but about all we know now is the person is likely to be a woman.

There are two things I will be watching at the Thursday evening event.

First, will the school board vote unanimously to approve the new leader for our local school staff?  I have talked to former board members who have assured me past decisions on hiring a superintendent were hotly debated behind closed doors (state law allows this to be hashed-out in private).  But even if the person some board members favored was not hired, all board members have a tradition of unanimously approving a new superintendent as a signal to the community of a vote of confidence while assuming the new job.

I have been hearing rumblings that this vote Thursday night may not be 7-0.  We will soon find out.

Secondly, the first public comments by the new superintendent will be a very important message to the school community in Fall Creek, Delaware and Wayne Townships (taking-in the entire city of Fishers).  With all the challenges our local schools face, her initial comments will be watched very closely.

It is expected the superintendent will be part of the transition until Dr. Bourff officially retires at the end of June.

Diane Eaton served many years on the HSE board and surprised many local observers by addressing the board Wednesday night, urging a delay in hiring a permanent replacement for Dr. Bourff and advocated selecting an interim leader in order to provide more time for the board in its search.  Ms. Eaton has since been on social media urging others to contact board members, arguing for a delay in the hiring process.

I would surmise there are already at least 4 votes on the board for the new superintendent to be announced Thursday or the event would not have been scheduled.

The most important responsibility for any public school board in the State of Indiana is to hire the school superintendent and then supervise the performance of that superintendent.  That is why the eyes of the local community will be on the HSE Schools administration building Thursday night for this all-important announcement.