Community Consolidated School District 181 may still be months away from selecting a new superintendent, but the School Board members have a good idea of the characteristics they desire from the next top administrator.

During the past few weeks, the district’s consultant group has met with a variety of administrators, teachers and community leaders to develop a leadership profile to help guide the School Board in its search for its next superintendent.

“I think it was a pretty fair assessment, and it rang true,” said School Board President Marc Monyek after Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates, read a summary outlining the preferred qualifications at a School Board meeting Monday, Sept. 28.

The firm was hired recently to spearhead the nationwide search for a replacement for interim Superintendent Robert Sabatino.

Whoever is hired will have to work quickly to unite various constituencies within the district, consultant spokesman Hank Gmitro said.

“People are looking forward to a new superintendent with great optimism, but it needs to be someone who can build trust quickly,” Gmitro said.

The leadership profile report contained an executive summary that stated the major issues were related to financial health, strong stable leadership and effective management of “the competing demands of vocal special interest groups.”

The district plans to review a slate of five to six candidates presented by consultants in early November before deciding on a finalist by early December.

Whoever takes over the helm as superintendent in 2010 will face a stiff challenge leading a district nationally recognized for educational excellence at a time when revenue shortfalls are creating financial issues, officials said.

“Whoever it is could have to make some very tough decisions, perhaps some cuts,” said board member Yvonne Mayer. “I’d like someone who has some experience dealing with financial challenges.”

During public discussion the board also agreed the hiring process will likely include input from administrators and representatives, but should remain confidential.

“I’d like the process to be inclusive at the time we interview semi-finalists, but I would want to make it very clear the final vote belongs to the board. I don’t want to dilute that,” Monyek said.

Allowing others outside the board to have contact with semi-finalists during a site visit is important, School Board member Linda Rio Reichmann said, but input should be indirect.

Gmitro said the district could proceed with the initial candidate search without disclosing the level of confidentiality during second round of interviews.

“What you don’t want to do is lose a qualified candidate because of a process issue,” Gmitro said.

The board also agreed to begin posting as much information as possible on the district’s Web site to keep district residents informed throughout the process.

“It’s important that we place the leadership profile, the time line, key dates, as much as possible, on our web site so people can see the process,” said School Board member Andrew Schmidt.