March 5th, 2020 by WCBC Radio

The Allegany County Board of Education has begun its search for a permanent Superintendent of Schools with assistance from consultants at the Maryland Association of Boards of Education (MABE).
Mr. William Middleton, the lead MABE consultant, provided an update to the school board at their March 3, 2020, meeting outlining the process for this search. Mr. Middleton highlighted that the purpose of conducting a national search for a superintendent is to identify the best possible leader for the school system while ensuring that the process is fair, responsive, thoughtful, and legal.
The first step in this search process will be to gather stakeholder input regarding desired characteristics as well as potential challenges the superintendent may face. This information will be collected via an anonymous survey conducted by MABE and will consist of three questions geared towards learning what stakeholders find positive about ACPS, the top characteristics and qualifications the next superintendent should possess, and several challenges the new leader may face.
After receiving community and stakeholder input, the school board will develop the final desired criteria and characteristics for the permanent superintendent. The vacancy will then be advertised and applications will be reviewed during the month of April with structured interviews beginning in May. Typically, the top 6-8 candidates will be asked to sit for first-round interviews. A second round of open-ended interviews will follow in May to identify the finalists. The permanent appointment will be announced in June paving the way for the new superintendent to officially begin on July 1, 2020.
The survey can be completed at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/acpssupersurvey and must be submitted to MABE no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 16, 2020.
Any questions regarding the superintendent search process or procedures should be directed to the school board president, Tammy Fraley, via email at tammyfraleyboe@gmail.com or by phone at 240-580-0682.