City of Baker School System Superintendent of Schools Interview

Interview Details – The interview was conducted behind closed doors with a five member board in the first phase. That I didn't like. I ws used to interviewing in public. The questions went on for a while. They focused on what I had done as successes and mistakes I had made. They also wanted to know what I would do to improve the school system.

At that time it was the second worse school system in Louisiana with many, many personnel problems. It improved slightly while I was there, and it has since regressed again. There was also a public interview one evening, and it was attended obviously by some school employees. However, there was also a large number of community leaders and parents since the school system had performed so poorly over the years. The one criticism of me that I remember that night was that I called the board president by her first name. I had gotten to know her over the weeks of the process through repeated phone calls to and from me. I really let that slip. I should have remained more formal with her as I did with the others.

Negotiation Details – I really did handle the negotiation phase. I had an attorney, and I let him handle that since he knew more about contractual give and take. That worked well. He got me a reasonable salary for a two plus year contract with a car and a phone allowance. I would not have thought of the things he did, and I would have been worse for it.