At a glance
The Board of Education met Tuesday evening to plan the district's superintendent search with consultant Dr. Kawita Adams of HYA and Associates. The board discussed search confidentiality options, community engagement methods, advertising strategies, and timeline. The group leaned toward a confidential search process to attract the widest pool of candidates, with names released only at the finalist stage. The board will vote on key decisions at its January 20 meeting, including advertising packages, focus group composition, and survey questions. Individual board member interviews will occur between January 20 and 30, and the leadership profile is expected to be approved at the February 24 meeting.
Roll Call and Agenda Approval
The board convened its workshop with Board President Mark Pace participating remotely from Cleveland, Ohio. All seven board members were present.
Key points
- Mark Pace participated remotely via videoconference from Cleveland.
- Roll call confirmed all members present: Pace, Grubler, Gustaffson, Howard, Macker, Sheridan, and Zabella.
- The board approved the agenda as presented.
- Board clarified this was a work session, not a regular meeting, with no votes scheduled but public deliberation on district matters.
Introduction and Search Process Overview
Dr. Kawita Adams of HYA and Associates introduced herself and outlined the superintendent search planning process, emphasizing that all decisions remain with the board.
Key points
- Dr. Adams is the lead associate with HYA and Associates conducting the search.
- The presentation covers planning items including communication protocols, search process details, confidentiality options, community engagement, focus groups, and timeline.
- All materials presented are drafts; the board can modify any element of the process.
- Dr. Adams will answer questions to the best of her ability and consult with project managers or attorneys as needed.
Communication Protocols and Technology
The board discussed communication platforms and established protocols for contact between board members and the search consultant.
Key points
- The district will use email and video conferencing for search communications.
- The board agreed to use Google Meet for video conferencing, as it integrates with district email accounts.
- Questions from board members will be directed to Board President Mark Pace, who will relay them to Dr. Adams.
- The district will create a dedicated webpage for the superintendent search containing all search-related information in one location.
- The search page will include timelines, the leadership profile, and application information, but not applicant names.
Dr. Adams noted there were typos on the board member contact list and requested corrections before leaving the meeting.
Key Decisions Required
Dr. Adams outlined decisions the board must make during the planning phase, though not all need to be finalized at this workshop.
Key points
- Decisions include: communication platform, individual board member interview schedule, type of search (open, closed, or hybrid), focus group composition, community survey languages and distribution, advertising options, and calendar timeline.
- The leadership profile must be approved at the board's next meeting (January 20 or 24) to meet the July 1 superintendent appointment goal.
- Advertising will begin before the leadership profile is finalized, with the profile following about a week later.
- Dr. Adams emphasized the timeline is tight but achievable if the board approves the leadership profile by late January.
Community Engagement and Focus Groups
The board discussed how to structure community input through focus groups and surveys, with flexibility in format and scheduling.
Key points
- The search includes both a community survey (quantitative) and focus groups (qualitative) to build the leadership profile.
- Typical focus groups include: administrators, students, licensed personnel (teachers, counselors, directors), support staff, parents, and community members (business, clergy, government).
- Focus groups can be held in person, virtually, or in a hybrid format, though hybrid is logistically challenging with large groups.
- Student focus groups get the best turnout when scheduled during the school day, ideally during existing club or activity time.
- The search contract includes 24 hours of engagement time; the board can allocate those hours across focus groups, makeup sessions, and potential finalist meet-and-greets.
- Board members typically do not attend focus groups to avoid shifting the conversation away from superintendent qualifications.
Board members asked about conducting focus groups in Spanish. Dr. Adams said the district would need to provide a translator, which HYA has worked with in the past.
Community Survey and Languages
The board discussed translating the community survey into multiple languages to ensure broad participation.
Key points
- The survey uses a Likert scale format with generic questions about superintendent characteristics.
- Translating the survey into additional languages beyond English incurs extra cost.
- Some districts have handled translation internally to avoid extra fees; others have paid for professional translation.
- The board expressed interest in translating the survey into all languages the district typically translates into, not just Spanish.
- The survey will include respondent categories such as parent, student, staff, administrator, community member, with an option for 'other.'
Translation of the survey into additional languages is available at extra cost per language. The board plans to consult with the district technology department about existing translation resources.
Advertising Packages and Recruitment
Dr. Adams reviewed advertising options for the superintendent position, explaining the differences between platforms and the ability to add regional options.
Key points
- Package One and Package Two (included in the contract) are the same price; the difference is School Administrators Association or Ed Week.
- School Administrators Association reaches only administrators nationally; Ed Week reaches educators more broadly.
- Northeast add-ons (at extra cost) include: New Jersey School Administrators Association, NYSUT Council of School Superintendents (NISCUS), and Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPS).
- Additional diversity-focused platforms include ALAS (Latin administrators) and NABSE (Black educators).
- Connecticut draws strongly to New York superintendent searches, even in the Hudson Valley.
- HYA does active recruiting beyond advertising, reaching out to candidates in their pool who fit the district's needs.
- Candidates can apply directly through the district website even without seeing an advertisement.
The board agreed to defer the final advertising package decision until after individual board member interviews, when the group has a clearer sense of what it is looking for in a candidate.
Number of Candidates and Screening
Dr. Adams discussed how many candidates the board should consider at each stage of the search, urging flexibility based on quality rather than fixed numbers.
Key points
- Typically three to five candidates are presented in the first slate, from which the board narrows to finalists.
- Dr. Adams recommended not being bound by a number: if seven or eight quality candidates apply, the board should consider all of them.
- Selecting a superintendent is the single most important decision a board makes and should not be artificially limited.
- If the consultant sees 10 strong candidates, all 10 would be presented.
- The board can request to see any candidate not recommended by the consultant.
- Given the number of nearby superintendent searches, candidates may apply to multiple districts; casting a wide net helps protect against losing top choices to other openings.
Search Confidentiality Options
The board discussed three models for search confidentiality: fully open, fully closed, and hybrid. Members expressed strong preference for a confidential process.
Key points
- Fully open: applicant names released as soon as first interviews are scheduled. Most transparent but significantly limits the applicant pool.
- Fully closed: names remain confidential until a finalist is named. Attracts more applicants but requires strong community trust in the board.
- Hybrid: confidential until finalists are named, then finalist names released for community meet-and-greets.
- Sitting superintendents strongly prefer confidentiality; becoming known as a candidate in their current district can make them a 'lame duck' even if not fired.
- Board members voiced preference for a confidential search to maximize the applicant pool, given competition from nearby districts.
- The board leaned toward the hybrid model: confidential until finalists are selected, then names released for community input.
- Superintendent searches in New York typically state the confidentiality level in the advertisement; candidates need to know their level of safety before applying.
The board will vote on the confidentiality model at its January 20 meeting. Consensus at this workshop favored Option Three: confidential until finalists, then public.
If the board conducts finalist meet-and-greets, community members will give input using objective Likert-scale questions based on the leadership profile, not votes or endorsements. The board makes the final decision.
Board Member Interviews
Dr. Adams will conduct individual interviews with each board member between January 20 and 30 to gather input for the leadership profile.
Key points
- Interviews will be virtual, roughly one hour each.
- Dr. Adams will send three to five standard questions in advance, covering superintendent characteristics, district strengths and needs, and desired candidate background.
- The conversation will be open beyond the initial questions.
- Results will be compiled into a holistic summary report, not individual attributions.
- The summary will be shared with the full board.
- Scheduling flexibility is built in to accommodate changes.
Focus Group Composition
The board refined the proposed list of focus groups, agreeing to combine some categories and open the family session beyond PTA/PTO members.
Key points
- Sample focus groups: administrators, students, licensed personnel, support staff, families, and community (business, clergy, government).
- The board agreed to combine teacher union leadership with the general licensed personnel group, and support staff union leadership with the general support staff group.
- The family focus group will be open to all interested families, not limited to PTA or PTO members (the district does not currently have an active parent organization).
- The board discussed offering a focus group in Spanish and potentially other languages.
- The community focus group (business, clergy, government) will remain as one combined session; Hudson's population in those categories is not large enough to warrant separate meetings.
Background Checks and References
The consultant explained the background check process for finalists, noting one check is included in the contract.
Key points
- One background check is included in the proposal; additional checks cost extra.
- The board can choose when to conduct background checks: before or after making an offer.
- HYA conducts screening upfront and will flag any issues in a candidate's background, including media coverage.
- Sitting superintendents often have media coverage of controversial decisions; the board must decide whether it supports those decisions.
- Background check information is provided in a confidential summary document.
Transition Services
HYA includes a transition phase to help the new superintendent acclimate, including development of a 100-day plan.
Key points
- The transition phase included in the contract runs two to three months.
- HYA works with the new superintendent on a 100-day plan and how to navigate it with the board.
- Services include support for board-superintendent relationships.
- An optional six-month virtual Transition Academy is available separately.
Timeline and Next Steps
Dr. Adams reviewed the search timeline from February through June, with key decision points at upcoming board meetings.
Key points
- The board must decide by January 20: advertising package, confidentiality model, focus group structure, and survey questions.
- Individual board member interviews will occur January 20 through 30.
- The leadership profile and interview training workshop are scheduled for February 24.
- Advertising will begin in early February.
- The timeline allows flexibility; some phases may move faster or slower depending on applicant response.
- The goal is to appoint a superintendent by July 1.
Code of Conduct subcommittee Monday, January 12, 3:30 p.m., high school library. Finance committee Monday, January 12, 5 p.m., district office. Policy committee Tuesday, January 13, 5 p.m., high school library. Facilities committee Monday, January 20, 5 p.m., district office. Board of Education meeting Monday, January 20, 6 p.m., high school auditorium.
Executive Session
The board moved into executive session to discuss salary and related personnel matters with Dr. Adams. No action was taken in public session afterward.
Key points
- The board voted to enter executive session to discuss salary, background checks, residency, and related personnel matters.
- The board stated there would be no further business in public session after executive session concluded.
About this page
FUTURE HUDSON is an experiment in civic engagement: every public meeting of the City of Hudson since January 2026, transcribed and made readable, so any resident can follow what the city is deciding without attending every meeting. This page covers one meeting; see the full archive.
How it was made
The meeting video was transcribed automatically; the transcript was then organized into sections and summarized. The raw transcript is above, every claim can be checked against it.
What to be skeptical of
The transcript is automated and contains speech-recognition errors; names and numbers may be wrong. This page has not been reviewed by a human. Nothing here is an official record, the school district's official minutes are authoritative.
About coverage of this body
Board of Education meetings are livestreamed by the Hudson City School District to its own YouTube channel. The school district is a separate government from the City of Hudson. If a meeting is missing from the archive, the recording was likely not posted. See the archive index for the full coverage note.