Baltimore teachers and administrators are demanding an explicit commitment from the city’s school board to host a public national search for the district’s next superintendent.
The Baltimore Teachers Union and the Public School Administrators and Supervisors Association of Baltimore City hosted a joint press conference Tuesday in front of the district’s central office, joined by city councilmembers Zeke Cohen and James Torrence.
Union leaders said those “directly impacted” — including students, parents, teachers and staff — deserve a say in who takes over from current CEO Sonja Santelises. In early June, the board of commissioners renewed Santelises’ contract for only one more year.
Nathan Ferrell, BTU’s membership director and a city Spanish teacher, said this is an opportunity for the school board to “right past wrongs” committed during the last CEO search in 2016.
“During the previous search to replace Gregory Thornton, the board twice violated the Open Meetings Act by improperly closing meetings to the public,” he said. “Baltimore City's board hid the last search from the public entirely, and appears poised to repeat the same mistake.”
In an emailed statement, board chair Ronald McFadden said commissioners are “committed to ensuring a comprehensive search, inclusive of input from diverse stakeholders.”
“When the Board is ready, we will communicate more details regarding the search process with our stakeholders,” the statement said.
This time, Baltimore Teachers Union President Diamonté Brown said she wants to see “timelines” for the search.
“When does it start? When will it end?” she said Tuesday. “Do we get a long list and a short list? Will there be a series of interviews, focus groups? We want to know the beginning, the end, and milestones in between.”
Karl Perry, president of the administrators union, said the process has to include a “trusted and reputable” search firm. He also demanded that members from the two unions have a seat at the table when interviewing candidates.
“Our schools deserve the greatest CEO that we can find — and it will take a transparent process,” said Karl Perry, president of the administrators union. “We need a search committee to identify and speak to the community, to the administrators, to the teachers, to understand our needs. Because we know firsthand what happens in schools and what our children deserve.”
Brown said the next superintendent also needs to correct current grievances — like delayed payments for teachers and school staff shortages.
“We are looking for someone that can manage efficient offices, like our payroll office, because we want to be paid on time and properly,” she said. “We also want to make sure our human capital office is managed properly because we want to make certain that we can get fully staffed schools.”
This story has been updated to include a statement from Board of Commissioners Chair Ronald McFadden.
