Power brokers revisited: a directory of firms that conduct national or regional superintendent searches - Directory

School Administrator, June, 2003 by Paul Riede

When The School Administrator first examined the subject of superintendent searches in February 1994, the magazine compiled a directory of 23 consulting firms that at that time were contracting with boards of education to fill leadership vacancies.

The magazine's latest examination of the field has identified 29 private firms in the business of conducting superintendent searches on a regional or nationwide basis. The list, although representative of the more active private firms, is by no means a full accounting of those who search for superintendents. Within the past two years, 233 search firms or organizations have advertised for candidates through AASA's electronic Job Bulletin. While some have been around for two decades or more, others come and go with regularity.

One major executive search firm, Heidrick and Struggles, was doing just a handful of superintendent searches a decade ago. It now reports it is averaging about 50 a year, more than any other firm. Another large firm featured in the 1994 directory, Korn/Ferry International, has gone the other way, scaling back its work on superintendent searches to a mere trickle.

Others have come and gone. Linda Dawson, president of the Aspen Group, a Colorado-based educational consulting firm, says she got out of the superintendent search business because it simply wasn't worth it to keep it up. "It's very time consuming, extremely laborintensive if you do it right. I think there are a lot of people who get into the search business because they've been involved in a search and think they can just jump in and do it. And I think that is a misguided notion."

Our listing does not include school boards associations that run searches within their states. (A survey in 2001 by the National School Boards Association found 34 state associations with search arms.) Nor does it include the regional education centers or intermediate school districts that are active in searches in some states.

Myriad other private and nonprofit organizations do searches for school leaders from time to time, but there is no single listing of all those groups. NSBA updated its list of private search firms in February 2002, but that list contains only 15 companies. One has since stopped doing school searches; the remaining 14 are among those included here.

NSBA itself stopped doing searches five years ago, both to cut expenses and because so many state associations are now doing them.

Because of the increasing numbers of retirements among graying superintendents and a shrinking pool of willing candidates, search firms are in more demand than ever. Even with the increasing numbers of firms, some searchers say there is still plenty of business to go around. But like Dawson they warn those who are thinking about entering the field to carefully assess what they are getting into. Searches these days can be lengthy, painstaking exercises.

"It is a calling, it's not a job," says George Goens, a senior partner in the Connecticut firm Goens/Esparo LLC and a former superintendent. "You have to consider it your life's work."

RELATED ARTICLE: The Bickert Group

1340 Wilmot Drive

Deerfield, IL 60015

Phone: 708-361-4997

E-mail: robarnes@indiana.edu

Website: www.thebickerigroup.com

Founded in 1992, this firm has four partners and 19 associates across the country. It does about 20 searches a year, mostly in the Midwest. Fees are from $14,000 to $20,000 with board expenses ranging from $10,000 to $15,000. Ron Barnes, a professor at Indiana University and a former superintendent, is the managing partner.

Bracewell & Patterson, LLP

711 Louisiana, Suite 2900

Houston, TX 77002

Phone: 713-221-1415

E-mail: jthompson@bracepatt.com

Website: www.bracepatt.com

This international law firm, founded in 1945, began doing a small number of searches in 1999. David Thompson, a partner in the firm's public law group, teamed up with Dallas superintendent Mike Moses to do two to four high-profile searches each year in Texas. Moses' contract as superintendent allows him to use a limited number of days each year for consulting, and he uses them for the search business. Expenses and fees range from $12,000 to $22,000 per search.

Castallo & Silky Education Consultants

P.O. Box 100

Syracuse, NY 13215

Phone: 315-492-4474

E-mail: wdsilky@aol.com

The firm's two managing partners, William D. Silky and Richard Castallo, joined forces in 2001, though each was involved in superintendent searches for more than 17 years. Silky, an education professor at the State University of New York at Oswego, and Castallo, an education professor at SUNY Cortland, met halfway and established a headquarters in Syracuse. The firm employs four professional staff members and does six to eight searchew a year, primarily in New York state. Fees and expenses range from $14,000 to $20,000 per search.

Floyd Consulting

P.O. Box 34523

Bethesda, MD 20827

Phone: 301-229-4480

E-mail: jfloyd3208@aol.com

Jeremiah Floyd, senior partner, created the search program at the National School Boards Association in 1978. After retiring from that group, he started his own firm in 1998. He gets much of his work from NSBA, which has stopped doing searches. With help from about 12 on-call consultants, he handles about a half dozen assignments a year. Fees and expenses range from $18,000 to $40,000.