Bow and Dunbarton School Board members are starting their search for a new superintendent to replace Dean Cascadden, who will retire at the end of the school year.
A 20-member screening committee will be in charge of the search process, with the goal of choosing a new superintendent by March, according to a timeline that has been posted on the District website. The committee’s membership will include four School Board members, as well as school administrators, teachers, support staff members and community members from both Bow and Dunbarton.
Cascadden, who has been leading the district for 16 years, announced his retirement in September. Cascadden, who is 61, said he is looking forward to spending more time with his wife and family, which now includes a 9-month-old granddaughter.
“It is just time to make a change,” Cascadden said Tuesday. “I looked at everything and decided it was the right time to leave. There are some things you will always leave undone as a superintendent because the job is so big, but I feel things are in a good place I can leave it in good conscience.”
When he first started contemplating retirement two years ago, Cascadden said he made a list of things he wanted to finish before he left – among them, negotiating a new Authorized Regional Enrollment Area (AREA) agreement with Dunbarton and settling the employment contracts, both of which were completed last school year.
“Sixteen years ago I came to Bow and I remember consciously thinking ‘I am going to a place that has resources and supports education,’” Cascadden said. “The thing I’m most proud of is creating our vision statement that starts with ‘care for each person every day.’ I think I brought a focus on the individual, a focus on trying to solve problems for individuals.”
Cascadden will not be involved in the search to pick his successor.
The district held a community forum at Bow High School Monday evening to share more about the search and selection process. An earlier community forum was held at Dunbarton Elementary on Oct. 17. Attendance was sparse, with just one community member showing up at each event, but Assistant Superintendent Duane Ford said a parent survey that was put out earlier this month has been getting better engagement.
The survey asks community members to weigh in on the attributes, strengths and qualities they would look for in a new superintendent, and also to share their opinions on the district’s strengths and weaknesses. The survey has garnered over 100 responses so far, and will remain open until Friday.
According to the proposed timeline, the school board will meet Nov. 7 to finalize the membership of the screening committee, as well as to finalize the application details. Board members plan to post the job notice on Nov. 8, and keep the application site open until Jan. 13, 2023.
“My hope is that people respond to it and we get a good pool,” Ford said Monday. “You want the decision to be kind of hard because there are a lot of good people.”
In February, the screening committee will conduct interviews with candidates and narrow down the options. By March, committee members will select about three finalists who will be given the opportunity to spend the day in the district and tour the buildings.
The board hopes to make a job offer to a finalist by March 7, so the new superintendent can be introduced to the community at the March annual school district meeting.
Ford said he is feeling hopeful about the hiring market, although he said many good candidates got snapped up by other districts last year, during an unusually high rate of superintendent job openings statewide. He thinks Bow and Dunbarton will be attractive to potential candidates.
“This job is a really good job,” Ford said. “We have a super supportive community, parents who are great, super staff and settled, negotiated contracts. We have an AREA agreement that just got extended. What you can focus on, I hope, as the new superintendent, is getting the lay of the land, the curriculum, student things. I think the transition is going to be great.”
Cascadden isn’t sure yet what will come next for him after retirement in June, but he hopes to stay involved in the community, possibly through leadership coaching, consulting for an education organization, or community service.
“I felt 16 years went by in a flash,” Cascadden said. “It went by quickly, but I feel like we’ve done well and I’m leaving in a good place.”