Superintendent search begins

The same executive search company that is taking Rochester school Superintendent Manuel Rivera away to Boston has been hired to find his replacement.

The Rochester School Board announced today that Hamilton, Rabinovitz & Alschuler will conduct the search. The firm has placed superintendents and high-level executives in large urban districts throughout the country, including Los Angeles and Minneapolis.

“Our biggest concerns were finding a superintendent with experience in an urban district, and one with sensibility for working with diverse communities,” said board member Tom Brennan. “We’re also looking for someone who can make a commitment and stay a while, because stability is important.”

The district received proposals from 13 search firms, but Brennan said it was the contacts Hamilton, Rabinovitz & Alschuler seemed to have in education settings, including colleges and universities, that helped the company land the job.

No salary range or timeframe for review of applicants has been decided.

“But the board is entirely in agreement that we are going to conduct this search out in the open with as much community engagement as possible,” Brennan said. “This is not going to be conducted behind closed doors.”

--- Tim Louis Macaluso