Hickman gets nod

Feb 26, 2010 — The Arizona Daily Sun

Hillary Davis

Feb. 24, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Members of the Flagstaff Unified School District school board have unanimously agreed that they want to keep Barbara Hickman for the long haul.

Hickman, FUSD's interim superintendent, accepted the board's offer to "enter into contract negotiations" for the top superintendent slot, she and board president Deborah Harris confirmed on Tuesday.

"I'm very excited. I'm very grateful for being given the chance to do this," Hickman said.

She technically hasn't been given the job -- she would need to hammer out a contract first, a required administrative procedure. But if all goes well with contract negotiations -- and there's no indication that it won't -- she would officially become FUSD's chief on July 1. She has now withdrawn from consideration for the Billings (Mont.) School District superintendent job, for which she had also been a finalist.

Hickman's selection came after a few hours of board deliberations, which began right after a community forum with the four superintendent finalists on Monday night. Harris said the board had reached consensus by about 1:30 a.m.

Hickman was one of 31 applicants for the top spot, from which Kevin Brown retired over winter break. She has been in FUSD since 2007, first as assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction. She has been interim superintendent since January.

Board member Chris Bavasi said there was "healthy" discussion among the board and all of the finalists were strong, but they all agreed that Hickman was their top choice.

He said he was impressed with Hickman's interim leadership and performance in the interview process, which he said was no different than external candidates'. He said the community also received her well.

"Frankly, as far as I'm concerned, had Barbara not been internal -- had Barbara been an external candidate -- she would have still been my choice," Bavasi said.

Hickman said she brings a combination of skills to the position, including her extensive experience in curriculum and instruction, and relationships she has already built in FUSD and the community.

"We have mutual trust and respect. That's very helpful and very powerful, particularly when we are going to be asking all of ourselves to continue making some pretty tough decisions," she said.

John Corcoran, a Flagstaff High School math teacher and president of the Flagstaff Education Association, said looking within was the right choice.

"She has shown her willingness to lead the district in a very difficult situation, during a financial crisis in the state and the difficulty in closing buildings," he said. "A new person would not be able to deal with that effectively."

Hickman earned a master's degree in educational administration from Saint Mary's (Calif.) College and bachelor's degrees in science education and geology, both from the University of Minnesota. She also has a superintendent's certification, although one is not required to lead a school district in Arizona.

She held a variety of assistant superintendent jobs in the Patterson (Calif.) Joint Unified School District before coming to FUSD. She has also been a high school administrator and taught math and science.

Search consultant John Gordon, from the Phoenix-based Arizona School Boards Association, said his organization averaged 26 applicants for its superintendent searches last year, making interest in FUSD strong. He said the candidates brought a variety of experience and backgrounds, and Monday's day of meetings with various "stakeholders" like teachers, staff, and community members provided plenty of good feedback for the school board members, who were ultimately tasked with the decision. (Superintendents answer to their school boards.) Gordon said boards can choose quickly or take their time when mulling over candidates. But Harris said she felt prepared by the weeks of poring over applications, screenings, interviews and meetings.

"I personally do not feel that it should take you a month to make a decision when you have all the information. Some people in the community, because they didn't have all the pieces that we had as a board, they might feel that you needed to take more time," she said. "But I felt I was ready to make a decision when we started our discussions because I had all of those other pieces."

Bavasi said Hickman is a "can-do person:" "She sees where we want to go and she's able to get us there."

Hickman acknowledged that the coming months will be difficult and possibly painful in FUSD, with plans to close schools and potentially other cutbacks, especially if the budget override does not pass on March 9. But she said she was still tremendously optimistic about the district's potential and opportunities to innovate and move forward.

Hickman touted her frank, open approach in Monday night's forum, and Harris agreed that this was an attractive attribute.

"I like direct, honest people," she said. "I think it doesn't leave room for any misunderstandings."

She said she hoped to have Hickman's contract figured out as soon as possible, possibly by the end of the week. The salary range was advertised at $115,000 to $125,000 per year.

In addition to Hickman, the board also considered Sandra Johnson, superintendent of the Glendale Elementary School District; Scott Rogers, superintendent of Minidoka County (Idaho) Joint School District; and Cynthia Wilson, regional superintendent at Houston Independent School District.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0065-42398240