Dan Domenech, superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools, surprised the school board and others on Dec. 3, 2003 by announcing that he would leave the school system on March 5, 2004.
Nearly six weeks later, at its work session on Jan. 12, School Board members agreed on a timetable to hire a search firm to help find a replacement for Domenech.
The board will select a search firm on Thursday, Feb. 12, intending to hire a new superintendent before the start of the next school year.
The new leader of the Fairfax County Public Schools will face some high expectations. Here are a few of the challenges identified by the Fairfax County Schools for Domenech’s replacement:
* meeting the instructional needs of a growing and increasingly diverse student population.
* replacing senior faculty and staff members who are approaching retirement.
* recruiting faculty and staff members more reflective of the demographics of the student population.
* obtaining enough funding in a complex revenue environment.
* creating greater use of technology and integrating that technology into the educational process.
* maintaining aging facilities and providing the capital funding needed for renovation and new physical plants.
* meeting heightened public expectations for expenditure accountability and program evaluation.
* meeting the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act.
—Ken Moore