Dawn Lang, President of the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board, read a statement at the start of the Wednesday night meeting, saying out of 10 applicants for the job of superintendent, 5 will be interviewed in 2 rounds during January, with an offer expected to be extended by the end of January.  Once a contract agreement is reached by mid-February, that pact will be posted on the HSE School District Web site 10 days prior to a public hearing on that contract.

The new superintendent will report based on negotiations between the parties, but no later than July 1, 2024.

At the October 11th board session, Lang said there would be a “community forum” on the superintendent search.  That was done in the form of a focus group held November 28th.

There were 30 members of that focus group, appointed by the following parties in the following numbers:  HSE School Board members appointed 3 focus group members each…Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness appointed 2…Noblesville Mayor Chris Jensen appointed 2…The President of the Hamilton Southeastern Education Association appointed 3…and there were 2 members of HSE Schools Administration.

Lang emphasized no board members were present for the focus group after she provided introductory remarks, then left the room.  There were breakout groups of 5 each that reported back to the entire group on their discussions about content standards at the state level and which skills should be prioritized for a new superintendent.

The board has been briefed on the results of the focus group session in an executive session.  According to Lang, the results of the focus group, along with the names of the participants, will be publicly released after the superintendent interview process is complete.  “This is to preserve the integrity of the search process,” said Lang.

The consultant hired  by the school board, Administrative Assistance, facilitated the focus group session.