By Matthew E. Milliken

mmilliken@heraldsun.com; 419-6684

DURHAM -- Durham's school board will meet this afternoon to select a superintendent search firm.

The meeting is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at the Staff Development Center, 2107 Hillandale Road. It will be followed at 7 p.m. by a "kitchen table conversation" at the same location meant to gather Durhamites' opinions on what qualities the next school chief should have.

Registration for the evening event, which school board members say will be the first in a series of public engagement efforts, closed Monday. Some 65 people, slightly less than half of the venue's capacity, are expected to attend.

The board is beginning the search after Superintendent Carl Harris announced Nov. 2 that he would take a job with the U.S. Department of Education in January.

The proposals submitted by the four groups seeking a search contract indicate potential base fees ranging from $8,500 to $31,000 to attract and screen superintendent candidates. The groups would also charge expenses, which were estimated by three organizations as running from $3,000 to $5,500.

The following proposals are before the board:

- The North Carolina School Boards Association of Raleigh would charge $8,500. The association typically attracts half of its applicants from outside the state. The association has conducted searches for about a decade, helping more than 50 in-state districts hire more than 70 superintendents. Allison Schafer, the organization's legal policy and director of counsel, would be the point person for the search.

- Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates of Glenview, Ill., would charge $31,000. The 22-year-old firm has conducted more than 700 school executive searches, including ones for Chapel Hill-Carrboro and Pitt and Guilford counties. The search team would include Hazard, Young CEO Hank Gmitro, a former Illinois district superintendent, plus three associates from South Carolina and Florida; all four have doctorates in education.

- Jim Huge and Associates of San Francisco would charge $24,750. Huge, a former varsity football and basketball player and sports broadcaster, all at the University of Nebraska, would be the point person for the search. He has 25 years' experience as a search consultant. Huge has conducted at least 52 superintendent searches, many in the Northwest.

- Ray and Associates of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, would charge $26,000. The firm has conducted school executive searches for 34 years and has helped districts in Guilford and Mecklenburg counties. The search team would include firm president Gary Ray and associates from Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia and Iowa.

The search firms were recommended to the Durham school board by the Broad Foundation of Los Angeles.

The three search firms, but not the School Boards Association, offer some form of warranty. They would conduct a follow-up search for which only expenses would be charged if the first candidate hired does not remain with Durham for one or two years. Huge and Hazard, Young also pledge not to recruit Durham's hire for other jobs for at least three years.

The three search firms would interview individual board members and others designated by the board at the search's outset.

Three proposals suggest different levels of community engagement. The School Boards Association public involvement would consist of surveys and/or forums. Huge and Ray both call for focus groups and surveys.

The three search firms, but not the School Boards Association, would help negotiate employment contracts.

The search firms offer various follow-up services. Hazard, Young would with board approval meet with the new superintendent to share information, debrief the school board and help conduct an orderly leadership changeover. Huge and Ray would also help with the transition and provide follow-up consulting during the new executive's first year.

Hazard, Young would charge up to $6,000 for a pre- and/or a post-hiring workshop with the board.

The School Boards Association contemplates having the new superintendent start work by either mid-April or mid-May. Ray projects a similar start date; Huge, a July 1 start. Hazard, Young's proposal includes no explicit timeline.

In addition to the four search proposals, the board is considering one from the Center for Reform of School Systems, which conducted a Broad-sponsored 24-month training program with the board that ended this year. The center would charge up to $4,500 plus expenses for a day-long training program on executive searches.