Davis searches for new Davis High principal

PHOTO: The application for principal closed May 14.

By Max Davis-Housefield, 

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

The search is on to find a successor for Davis High Principal Tom McHale, who will be leaving the school at the end of this year. The district has partnered with the executive search company Leadership Associates to find a suitable candidate.

However, the search has met with unexpected challenges. “The biggest challenge has been the very small pool (of applicants) to choose from,” said Derek Brothers, the director of personnel services at Davis Joint Unified School District.  

“In a normal year, an opening like (DHS) principal would draw 30 to 40 applications. This year, we’ve had less than 10,” Brothers said. The district decided to push the application deadline back to mid-May with the hope of attracting more candidates.

“It’s not easy to recruit high school principals,” said Jacki Horesj, the lead search consultant with leadership associates. “It’s a very, very difficult job.”

She has noticed the lack of applicants in other searches she’s a part of throughout the state. “It’s really difficult. The principal position is tough enough without it being challenging times.”

This is a relatively new trend, said Horesj, something she really only started to see after the pandemic hit.

As part of the search process, Horesj conducted numerous interviews and surveys of various community members and interest groups. These interest groups include board members, administrators, parents, teachers and students. She talked to around 100 people.

“We triangulate all the data and try to find those trends that all groups are looking for,” Horesj said. “Those are the things that we then use when we recruit. We ask questions of the potential candidates that try to see if they have the skills and attributes and characteristics that match what (these groups) are looking for.”

Those trends, compiled by Horesj in an executive summary, reveal an interesting picture of the desires of the DJUSD community.

People wanted someone who was experienced as both a high school teacher and a high school administrator and who had experience in a school with similar demographics to DHS.

“They also wanted somebody who had a proven track record of growing academic achievement for all students, especially those students who might be struggling: students with special needs, second language learners, and students living in poverty,” Horesj said.

A good knowledge of school finances and budgets was also found to be important.

According to her data, one of the most important characteristics the community was hoping for was strong human relation skills. “Somebody that they call a people person, very relational,” Horesj said. It was also important that this person be able to build a cohesive internal team with the other admin.

“They want somebody who can bring the whole school together, making sure everybody is kind of rowing in the same direction and somebody who puts the highest priority on the safety of both students and staff,” Horesj said.

The students especially want someone who’s student-centered, has strong communication skills and is approachable and receptive to new ideas.

“Students want their voices to be heard and their opinions to be taken into consideration when decisions that impact them are being made,” Horesj said.

One of the students in her outreach groups said “we want someone who’s not too old.” While this made her laugh, she says it is in line with what students really want. They want someone who’s funny, somebody who’s going to be out there with them and talk to them.

“You know, (someone who’s going to) be goofy with them when they’re being goofy and really, really be someone who’s guiding them in the right direction so that they can develop their leadership skills as well,” Horesj said.

Everyone also wanted someone who’s going to be good at managing change, is courageous and visionary and knows how to build a succession plan for when they leave the position.

The search process is about to start moving quickly. The deadline for applicants was May 14, and Brothers and Horesj both expect the second round of interviews to begin this week. Brothers said that a recommendation will be made to the Board of Education at the June 2 meeting.

Despite the challenges posed by our unprecedented times, Horesj is confident that they can find “the absolutely perfect” candidate for DHS.