On Friday, Sept. 29, Interim Superintendent Chris Salani sent an email to Hancock School District families, faculty and staff on the topic of the District’s search process for a permanent superintendent.

“The Hancock Public Schools Board of Education,” stated Salani, “has partnered with the Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB) to conduct our search, of which the MASB has provided to our District. Mrs. Mary Brayak, retired UP superintendent, as our representative. Mrs. Brayak and our Board of Education, through the MASB, have put together both a very important constituent Survey for you to voluntarily and anonymously fill out, as well as the timeline associated with the hiring process”.

The survey will provide critical data from all members of the School District community. The data will be collected by the MASB and provided back to the Hancock School Board, and Mrs. Brayak, for analysis and review – in efforts of supporting the Hancock Public Schools Board of Education in identifying the needed/best characteristics desired of prospective candidates for the position.

“We will also be announcing,” stated Salani, “a date and time for members of the community who may not have the requisite connectivity to complete the Survey online, to be invited into the High School or Elementary for utilizing the District’s connectivity and computers in assisting with the completion of the survey.”

As both the survey and the hiring timelines have been formalized through Mrs. Brayak and the MASB, the survey items/language, as well as the timeline milestones for the hiring process (presented herein), will be followed as presented below.

Regarding the timeline and specific milestones for the Search process, please refer to the following:

• September 27 – Survey Announcement and Distribution

• September 29 – Official Posting for Applications

• October 16 — Online Survey is closed; MASB will compile data

• November 6 – Board of Education Work Session with MASB – Survey Data Review / Analysis

• November 9 – Posting for applications closes

• November 10 – Special Board of Education meeting – if necessary

• November 13 – Candidate Interviews

“I’d like to invite all of you to participate in filling out the anonymous survey and providing your feedback,” Salani stated, “as the information will be useful in many capacities to our Board of Education even beyond just the search itself.”

Further, Salani continued, anyone with questions regarding this information, or seeking additional information is welcome to reach out.

“As we close out the first four weeks of school and the month of September” Salain said, “I’d also like to relay that I feel as though we’ve had an exceptional start to the school year. With the continued patience, assistance and support of our parents, families,faculty, staff and District Partners, the outlook into our 2023-2024 academic year truly has the potential of being a positive step forward for the District, as well as a transformative opportunity for our Community and ‘Bulldog Family.'”

The survey can be found on the main page of of the shcool website in the opening ‘banner’ – https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/hancocksearch.