Superintendent Search Launches with Reynolds Tomorrow Survey

Reynolds School District - Oregon

New Reynolds Survey to ask citizens about preferred

leadership qualities for new superintendent

Following the retirement announcement of Superintendent Joyce Henstrand on Nov. 7, 2011, the Reynolds School District said today it will be asking the public about its opinion on what qualities are desired for the next top administrator.

The School Board is beginning a national search for a new superintendent. “We will retain a professional search firm to assist in identifying strong candidates to replace Dr. Henstrand.  We need to hear from the public, parents, students and staff on the qualities and qualifications of our next leader.” says Theresa Delaney-Davis, School Board Chair.

“Our first step is to pose some important questions.” adds Delaney-Davis. “We will bring back the successful Reynolds Tomorrow program we pioneered last year to get an understanding of community priorities.”  The newest version of Reynolds Tomorrow will be posted next week.  The online survey will go live in early December and will close mid December.

According to Delaney-Davis the survey is designed to probe community perspectives about characteristics such as leadership skills, communication ability, level of experience and other relevant factors.  Henstrand is retiring in June 2012 after three years as Reynolds’ superintendent and a 40-year career in education. The school board will name her replacement in 2012.

“She’s been a creative effective problem solver.” says Delaney-Davis. “Dr. Henstrand has helped us navigate through tough economic times. Under her stewardship we have established a strong foundation for the future.”

Email addresses requested

District residents and staff are asked to visit www.ReynoldsTomorrow.com and register their email address. They will be notified by email when the survey goes live. It will be open only a few days. Survey results will be presented to the school board in December by Tom Eiland and Norm Eder, partners at CFM Strategic Communications, a Portland-based research and public affairs firm.  CFM adheres to a strict confidentiality policy.  E-mail addresses and individual survey responses will not be identified.  The board receives results in a management summary format. 

In addition to the superintendent survey, the Reynolds Tomorrow platform will be used twice more in 2012.

“Once we’ve finished our survey about new leadership, we will begin planning for community and staff involvement in a proposed 3-year district improvement plan and next year’s district budget,” Delaney-Davis says.

“Feedback we received from almost 1,000 district residents earlier this year really helped us set priorities. It truly gave us important guideposts as the Board determined the current-year budget.  We look forward to hearing as many voices as possible in our community again,” she adds. 

District recognized for outreach effort

The District created the Reynolds Tomorrow program to make it more convenient for residents, parents and staff to participate in important decisions about the future of Reynolds School District. Last month the Portland-Metro chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, at its annual awards dinner, recognized Reynolds Tomorrow as an innovative approach to community involvement.