Should Wichita Identify Superintendent Finalists?

by Bob Weeks on February 19, 2009

When USD 259, the Wichita public school district, draws criticism from the Wichita Eagle’s Rhonda Holman, you know they’ve really done something wrong.

Her column of today (Identify finalists for superintendent) requests that the Wichita school district make public the names of the finalists in its search for superintendent. Her request is likely to remain unfulfilled: “And board president Lynn Rogers was less than reassuring Wednesday when asked whether the public would have an opportunity to learn the names of more candidates than just the winner.”

What we’d really like to know if Martin Libhart, the present superintendent — interim, that is — applied for this job. Whether he did, and whether his application was considered seriously by this board, will tell us a lot about both parties.

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Tagged as: Lynn Rogers, Martin Libhart, Open records, Rhonda Holman, Wichita and Kansas schools, Wichita Eagle opinion watch

{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }

1 ken February 20, 2009 at 1:19 pm: Perhaps the reason the Wichita school board is not forthcoming re the names of finalists for superintendent is because Martin Libhart is indeed a finalist. The fact that the 2008 bond passage was so narrow could also be another reason that this board continues to operate so secretively. They want absolutely no input from the public that is at odds with their way of thinking.

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