The Board of Education has yet to decide if the public will be involved with interviewing schools superintendent candidates.

During Monday's Board of Education meeting, Jean Pasternak, of Hobart Avenue, asked if parents and other members of the school community will be involved. She cited how they had been involved in past interview processes, including when Millburn High School Principal Bill Miron and current Supt. of Schools Richard Brodow were hired.

Brodow announced last May he intends to retire after the 2009-10 school year. The Board of Education has started working towards hiring a replacement, including hiring a search firm. Representatives from Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates held focus groups and an open forum for the community recently.

Sam Levy, school board Search Committee chairman, said the information gathered during the sessions will be compiled into a leadership profile, which will be presented at the Nov. 16 school board meeting. The profile is to be used by the search firm to filter candidates and by the school board when interviewing them.

But school officials have yet to decide if constituent groups and which ones would be involved in the interviewing phase. Levy said the board would discuss it during the upcoming board retreat.

The board will discuss the issue with the search firm and what has worked well in other superintendent searches, he said. He noted that the firm has completed the most school superintendent searches in the country.

At the very least, the full board would interview superintendent candidates, and not just the Search Committee, he said.

Pasternak pressed the issue, saying she did not feel the process has been inclusive—pointing out four teachers attended a forum—and did not understand how there could be a departure from past practices with interviewing candidates.

"You need to have the community feel like it is involved in the process," she said.

Levy said the board has yet to depart from past practices. Additionally, the board gave every opportunity for people to be involved in the process with the focus groups and forums. "We have no control over (how many people show up)," he said.

But if people could not attend one of the forums, he said, they could fill out the online survey. It was available through last Friday on the school district's Web site.

Board President Noreen Brunini said there's also an issue with the candidate needing to come forward publicly. "Sometimes they don't want to have to do that," she said.

Following the meeting, Levy said the board is paying Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates approximately $17,500 for its services. The fee  includes not only the search itself but also post-search consulting to help both the district and the candidate transition. If the candidate who is hired leaves the district within a year, the firm will also help with a second search.

Levy said the board negotiated a lower rate for Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates services than what the firm normally charges.