CONSULTATION POLICY

LAKEWOOD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

INTERVIEW COMMITTEE

For each vacancy that occurs at our school (*except principal), the council will appoint an ad hoc interview committee of no more than seven people and no fewer than three people. This committee’s membership will include the principal and at least one certified staff member who will work directly with the person to be hired. Council members other than the principal may or may not be on the committee. The principal will chair the Interview Committee.

* See the Principal Selection Policy for procedures for this vacancy.

CRITERIA AND INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Within ten (10) school days of their appointment, the Interview Committee will meet in OPEN SESSION to:

Develop a set of criteria for a strong candidate. These criteria will not discriminate based on gender, ethnicity/race, marriage or family status, religion, political affiliation, disability, age, or other illegal grounds.
Use the criteria they have developed to write standard interview questions that fit those criteria. These questions will be asked of all candidates in an in-person interview.
Decide on other methods to use to gather information about how well the candidates meet the criteria. The methods may include (but not be limited to) some or all of the following: applications and résumés, references, written interviews, portfolios, and written responses to hypothetical work-related challenges.

APPLICATIONS AND REFERENCES

Within five (5) school days after receiving a list of applicants from the superintendent and finishing the procedures in the section above, the Interview Committee will meet in CLOSED SESSION to:

Review all applications and written references and select applicants to interview.
Determine if information in the written application or résumé points to any specialized questions that should be asked of a particular applicant and develop those questions if they are necessary.

INTERVIEWS

Within five (5) school days of the Interview Committee’s selection of candidates to interview, the Principal (or designee) will schedule an interview with each selected applicant at a time when all Interview Committee members can attend and call special meetings of the Interview Committee for each of those scheduled interview times. The following procedures will be followed during scheduled interviews:

Each interview will occur in a CLOSED SESSION of the Interview Committee.
All the standardized questions will be asked of each candidate in the same order.
Following the standardized questions, specialized questions (if any) and follow-up questions (if any) will be asked.
Committee members will briefly discuss the merits of each candidate following the interview.

CONSULTATION WITH THE COUNCIL

Within five (5) school days after all interviews are complete, the Interview Committee will meet in CLOSED SESSION to discuss how well each applicant meets the criteria, offer comments on the contributions each could make, and provide any additional input requested by the principal.

Within two (2) weeks after interviews are complete, the council will meet in CLOSED SESSION to receive the Interview Committee’s report, discuss the applicants, offer comments on the contributions each could make, and provide any additional input requested by the principal.

If a quorum of the council fails to attend this meeting, the principal may either call another meeting or declare an emergency and conduct the required consultation with the council members present so the hiring process can continue.

SELECTION OF THE PERSON TO BE HIRED

After considering the input from all the closed session meetings, the principal will make the final selection of the person he or she believes will contribute most to the success of the school’s students and notify the superintendent and council of his or her choice. The decision made by the principal is binding on the superintendent who will complete the hiring process.

EXTRA-DUTY ASSIGNMENTS AND POSITIONS

Extra-duty assignments and positions include paid or unpaid duties beyond the instructional day or beyond the contract days of a teacher. When only persons currently working at our school will be considered, the principal will make the assignment following our policy on Instructional and Non-Instructional Staff Time Assignment. When persons currently not working at our school will be considered, this policy on consultation will be followed by the principal, the council, and the ad hoc Interview Committee appointed by the council.

POLICY EVALUATION

We will evaluate the effectiveness of this policy through our School Improvement Planning Process.

Date Adopted: _____

Date Reviewed or Revised: _____ Council Chairperson’s Initials _____

Lakewood Elementary School SBDM Council

Consultation Policy