Will the Search Firm Hired to Find Shapiro's Successor Turn up the Best Talent For the Job?

Four years ago, the governing board of the South Pasadena Unified School District hired an executive search firm called Cosca Group, which was instrumental in hiring Superintendent Joel Shapiro for the prestigious post he’s scheduled to relinquish in February 2014 because of health reasons.

On Sept. 17, the governing board rehired Cosca Group—for a fee not to exceed $19,080—in an open session meeting scheduled under the so-called “action item” agenda, meaning that the issue was not part of the meeting’s “consent agenda.”

Cosca Group competed with two other search firms and was chosen because the governing board was “extremely pleased with their services,” Elisabeth Eliers, the board president at the time, tells South Pasadena Patch.

By all accounts, Cosca Group’s contract with the South Pasadena Unified School District was above board. As Shapiro puts it: The governing board “compared prices, found that they [Cosca Group] were competitive, and decided to work with a group they already had a positive relationship with.”

But just how useful are search firms in sifting through leadership talent across school districts, especially top-notch ones such as the SPUSD? And how common is the practice of hiring such firms?

Search firms are employed on the basis of their “experience, the selection process, cost and track record,” explains Thelma Meléndez de Santa Ana, who was hired through a search firm and retired this past July as the superintendent of schools for the Santa Ana Unified School District, the largest in Orange County and sixth-largest in the state.

“Many of the stellar candidates need to be approached, assured confidentiality and that is what these firms do,” she says adding: “They also help guide the process with the board and ensure transparency.”

Joe Walker, a member of the Temple City Unified School District Board who in September publicly bemoaned the recruitment of teachers from his district by the SPUSD, disagrees. “Superintendant search firms are as murky as could be,” he contends. “Basically, its an old boys network getting jobs for their friends, many of whom are out of work for reasons they will never reveal—it’s quite an interesting world.”

Santa Ana concedes that “some people do feel that search firms favor certain individuals.” But, she adds, “it may have happened more in the past—not so much today.”

According to Frank Cosca, president of Cosca Group, favoritism of any sort in the superintendent selection process is totally unfounded.

“We do not have a cadre, nor do we have a favored list of people and we don’t repeat candidates from search to search,” Cosca says, adding: “There are some firms that do exactly that. What we do is specifically try to find people who match the characteristics desired in the next superintendent and the needs of the school district.”

The school board “brainstorms every possible person or group we should meet with, and we ask them three basic questions,” Cosca says. “Number One, what’s absolutely wonderful about this district that you want not to change. Two, how can the district get better—and what should we be doing or not doing that will make it better? And three, looking at Number One and Two—the strengths and needs of the district—what kind of superintendent do you want?”

Adds Cosca: “We only pursue the people the board asks us to see.”

Although Walker agrees that the South Pasadena Unified School District is “highly functional,” it’s also hierarchical and the governing board rarely leads the way. 

“A district like South Pas that idolizes its leader will usually automatically follow any of his recommendations because that is what school board members are trained to do,” Walker says, adding: “The California School Board Association, which has an intensive training program for school board members, advertise itself as a resource for educating new board members, but 50 percent of what it does is telling board members to follow their superintendent no matter what.” 

For his part, adds Walker, it’s productive for any school district dealing with executive search firms to ask five key questions, which he sums up as follows:

• “Executive Search Firms are run by former superintendents and exist solely to get jobs for their peers. While this does not mean they won't find a great ‘superintendent,’ it also means that their Number One goal is to get someone placed for a very substantial fee. This is a major decision that should be taken seriously.”

• “Ask search firms if they have ever had a ‘bad fit’ and how they dealt with it. If they say it never happened, I would strongly suspect they are not being forthright.”

• “Do they [search firms] discourage the school board from including district administrators in the search for a new superintendent, insisting that only the board members be involved in the interview and selection process? Think about it. What do five elected board members, most likely with none of them possessing administrative teaching credentials, know about what to look for in an education leader? Keeping the circle of interviewers small leaves open the possibility that the ‘best looking’ and ‘best talker’ will be chosen, leaving out the instincts of longtime administrators who can see right through one of their peers who is saying all the right things but in reality may just be an ‘empty suit.’”

• Do you really need some outsiders recommending a superintendent who could actually be right under your nose? Have you looked closely at district administrators already in place? Have you talked to school board members from neighboring districts for their input? San Marino Unified recently saved lots of money and appointed a longtime principal to be their superintendent, and his learning curve was zero because he already knew everyone.”

• “Many school board members take their fiduciary responsibility to save money so far that they will automatically choose the firm that charges the least. While this could be the best choice, checking references could be the best way to find out if a search firm is good for your district.”

Related: Search Firm to Meet Community Today to Help Find Successor to Superintendent Joel Shapiro