Step Six

Screening and Selecting

All applicants should be required to file a written application either by filling in a form provided by your board or in a statement prepared by the applicant. In addition to education, experience and ­church connections each applicant should list two or more references. Once written applications are evaluated, screened and references have been contacted, interviews need to be conducted. Initial interviews might be made via telephone. There also needs to be an in-person interview with final candidates before a selection of the candidate is made.

In preparation for the interview the board determines what questions will be asked and who will ask them. Each board will determine its own set of questions. Avoid ‘what if’ kinds of questions. It is difficult for anyone to give a thorough answer to a question without knowing all the variables involved. Be more focused on the person’s thinking today. The following are some questions which might be included:

• What do you think is the mission of a Lutheran school?

• What role does the principal play to ensure the mission is  achieved?

• What qualifications do you have which would tend to ensure our school's mission is achieved?

• What do you see as the relationship between the school and the congregation -- the principal and pastor?

• What are the critical factors in making a school financially viable? Budget and development experience.

• Tell us a little about your spiritual journey and how that would impact your work.

• What has been your greatest success / biggest disappointment professionally?

• Tell us about the best principal or supervisor you ever had.

• Tell us about a disagreement or conflict you’ve had with a board or fellow teacher. How did you resolve it?

• What success have you had in the past which leads you to believe you could be a successful principal here?

• What questions do you have for us?

The board’s caring, professional and organized approach is important in this process. Remember, an interview is a mutual experience. The candidates are also interviewing you and the school. During the interview they are also deciding if this might be the best place for them.

Other factors to consider in the screening/selection process:

• Schedule one-on-one time between your senior pastor and your finalist(s).

• Check references. This is often best done via telephone, as some persons serving as a reference are very cautious about putting opinions and judgments into writing. Be consistent with the questions each person will ask when calling for a references. Also remember, some persons may be excellent in an interview, but not in practice. These reference are extremely important!

• Within the Lutheran church system, the interviewing agency usually pays the travel expenses of any out-of-town candidate who is asked to come for an interview.

Once the results of all appropriate screening, reference checking and interviewing has taken place, the board is ready to make its prayerful decision.

Ideally, the choice should be unanimous/consensus or more than a mere majority. Board members ­will have honest differences of opinion regarding who should be selected. Once the selection is made the entire board should stand behind that decision. It is also important not to “settle” for a candidate who seems to be the best among those interviewed, but who just is not right for your school. This is an important discipline in the process. Hiring someone not qualified or is not the right fit for your school is an invitation to a problematic experience for both the school and the individual. You might find yourself releasing a principal and going through this process again in twelve months time.

Timing is very important throughout the process. Similar to hiring teachers, there is a window of time in which the school works toward identifying, interviewing and hiring a principal. Generally it is difficult, while not impossible, to find a principal after August 1. By that time most principals have made commitments to a school. Unless there are extenuating circumstances, you probably don’t want to hire a person willing to break a commitment to a school that close to the start of a school year. That would only indicate the person would be willing to do that to your school.

If the “right” person has not been identified in your rounds of interviews, or if your selected candidate does not say yes to your invitation to service, the school may need to have an interim (sometimes called acting) principal. A few thoughts to keep in mind if you need to make interim arrangements are listed below. These are general comments which may or may not apply depending on your local circumstances and size of the school.

1. Review your notes from the current principal, meetings with the school secretary and the job description. Make a list of tasks and activities which must be performed. It is possible more than one person can accomplish these tasks creating an interim administrative team. When possible engage the faculty and the current principal (if the circumstances are appropriate) in this process as they will have valuable insight and information to help in the process and developing the interim plan.
2. One person should be designated as the principal. This person assures all the necessary tasks are accomplished. It is also vitally important parents have one contact person to call. Staff and parents finally want to know “who’s in charge.”
3. The interim principal should be very accessible to parents and teachers. This should include morning and afternoon office hours. These are the times most parents and teachers need access to the principal. Being able to return calls and have meetings only at the end of a school day after a full day in a classroom is very difficult and often not responsive to the needs which are to be addressed.
4. Using the term “interim” or “acting” as a preface to principal is unnecessary. For that particular school year or term in a child’s life – that person is the principal. There is nothing interim about it. Also, consider the irony when you hire the principal through your search process you would drop the word “acting.” Does that indicate inactivity? Of course not.
5. Be clear with the interim about their eligibility to apply to be the principal. Also be clear about the term of service. Generally it is a good idea to agree to one year (renewable if necessary) or when the new principal is hired – whichever comes first.
6. Compensate the individual(s) accomplishing these principal tasks. If a classroom teacher is released part time from the classroom for these duties, they should be compensated at a higher level for the responsibilities they are expected to assume. This is also true for a school secretary who may be asked to assume greater responsibilities than originally agreed upon. Willingness to be of assistance taking on greater responsibilities does not need to be equated with doing that for free. Remember salary is not merely a function of how many hours a day you spend at school.
7. The board should be very careful not to assume the principal responsibilities or attempt to become an interim principal by committee. Board members need to keep a distance from day-to-day management so they can continue to function in developing policy, ensuring cash flow and hiring a principal.
8. Volunteer administrators are also generally not a good alternative. Having a principal vacancy is not a time for the school to try to save money by not paying a salary.
9. Be very clear with all constituencies about your plan and these interim arrangements. Keep everyone informed.

See also
Eight Steps to a Successful Executive Director Evaluation 
Director/Principal Assessment Questionnaire 
Sample Administrative Policy