Superintendent

Washington Central Unified Union School District - East Montpelier, Vermont

Application Deadline: March 3, 2024
Posted : Jan. 24, 2024
Starting Date: July 1, 2024

Job Description

Washington Central Unified Union School District (WCUUSD) seeks a Superintendent for our consolidated school district in North Central Vermont.  WCUUSD serves nearly 1400 students with a $42 million annual budget for our pre-K through grade 12 district.

Governed by a committed 15-member board, WCUUSD operates on a $42M budget in service to five town-based elementary schools and one regional middle and high school.  Our five towns (Berlin, Calais, East Montpelier, Middlesex, and Worcester) are each reflective of classic, close-knit New England villages. WCUUSD is a member of our regional Central Vermont Career Center School District. Historically, our townspeople have shown strong support for their schools and public education in general. 

WCUUSD is in the process of developing a strategic plan, which will be finalized this spring and will be implemented by the incoming Superintendent. We have a long-standing and firm commitment to ensuring our schools are welcoming and diverse places for all learners. We look forward to welcoming a leader who will help us continue this journey and one that will allow our students to see themselves reflected in the schools and district.

Nestled in beautiful central Vermont, the presence of state government, the home office of a national financial services company, a variety of post-secondary educational institutions, and a relatively well-educated population ensure that our students have many educational, social, and cultural opportunities.  A rich and diverse lifestyle is ever present in the area.  Galleries, biking, canoeing and kayaking, camping, foodies’ paradise, stunning foliage, farmers’ markets, picturesque drives, golf, hiking, music events, historical sites, alpine and Nordic skiing, hunting and fishing, performing arts, brewery tours, snowmobiling and sports for all seasons are minutes away.  Vermont’s largest city of Burlington is less than an hour’s drive while the state capital of Montpelier is right next door.  Get-aways are a practical drive away: Boston (2 hours), Montreal (2.5 hours) and the Maine coast (2 hours) are examples.   

Our student population shows little racial or ethnic diversity but spans significant differences along the axes of income and socio-economic status. Natural population growth is stagnant, but in-migration, much of it drawn by our schools’ good reputations, has buoyed our student counts. WCUUSD is committed to meeting the needs of all students and is working to actualize our Commitment to Humanity and Justice through an emphasis on the humanity of all community members and accepts accountability for addressing the implications of equitable and just practices across the district. 

The successful candidate will possess sufficient training and experience to professionally perform at a high level while undertaking the core responsibilities as laid out in Vermont statutes.

A strong candidate will demonstrate the ability:

• To communicate effectively with a variety of stakeholder groups, including citizens, parents, students, and our entire staff, who are all valued contributors to our school district, and

• To  maintain a positive, supportive working relationship with our district board based on shared values of transparency, honest communication, and collaborative problem solving.

Our ideal candidate is well rounded and able to respond constructively to the demands of any given situation. By disposition they naturally will be:

• more educator than administrator,

• more democratic than bureaucratic,

• more questioning than knowing,

• more inclined to experiment than to play it safe,

• willing to delegate decision making to capable subordinates, and 

• capable of balancing stakeholders’ needs with state and federal requirements.

The Superintendent’s team is comprised of a business manager, director of special services, director of curriculum/instruction/assessment, human resources director, director of technology, executive assistant/data manager, administrative assistant, six principals and two assistant principals.

Key dates:

• Sunday, March 3,2024: Application deadline

• Monday, March 18, 2024: Semi-finalist interviews

• Wednesday, March 27, 2024: Finalist interviews (full day)

The Board anticipates offering its next exceptional leader an initial two-year contract at a starting salary of $148,000-$165,000 and a generous benefits package.

Confidential inquiries can be made to the consultants.

Position Type: Full-time
Positions Available: 1
Salary: $ 148,000 to $ 165,000 Per Year

Equal Opportunity Employer

Washington Central Unified Union School District is committed to maintaining a work and learning environment free from discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, pregnancy, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital/civil union status, ancestry, place of birth, age, citizenship status, veteran status, political affiliation, genetic information or disability, as defined and required by state and federal laws. Additionally, we prohibit retaliation against individuals who oppose such discrimination and harassment or who participate in an equal opportunity investigation.

Job Requirements

Prerequisites:

• Licensed as a Superintendent of schools by the state of Vermont or be eligible to obtain VT license.

• Have familiarity with the Vermont State Board of Education’s Rules and Practices

• Advanced degree and experience as a Superintendent, or comparable administrative experience, sufficient to establish a track record of superior results.

• Only complete applications submitted through SchoolSpring will be considered, including three written references.  https://www.schoolspring.com/jobdetail?jobId=4518312

Citizenship, residency or work visa required

Contact Information

Jeanné Collins Deweese & Michael R. Deweese, Ed.D.
Deweese2Consulting, LLC
Search Consultants
802.238.7710

The content you submit, offer, contribute, attach, post, or display (each a “Submission”) will viewed by other users of the service who may or may not be accurately representing who they are or who they represent. Do not include any sensitive data in your submissions. Any submission or any use or reliance on any content or materials posted via the service or obtained by you through the use of the service is at your own risk. “Sensitive data” for purposes of this section means social security or other government-issued identification numbers, medical or health information, account security information, individual financial account information, credit/debit/gift or other payment card information, account passwords, individual credit and income information or any other sensitive personal data as defined under applicable law

Essay Questions:

1. Washington Central recently merged from a five-town supervisory union to a single district with five towns. An elementary school is operated in each town. Through lenses of academic opportunities and fiscal responsiveness, how might you engage the board and community in addressing the potential of schools' reconfiguration(s)? 

2. WCUUSD has been working with its community on a strategic plan. It is expected to be implemented starting in July, 2024. One aspect of this strategic plan is a focus on humanity and justice. WCUUSD is committed to "creating inclusive educational opportunities that are relevant both historically and culturally, addressing the impacts of bias, prejudice, and discrimination while building more opportunity for us to thrive rather than merely survive." How might you help the Board to realize this vision?