BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo Public Schools could have a new superintendent on Thursday.
"Based upon what we have heard from the community, there is strong support for Dr. Tonja Williams. I expect that the board will make her the permanent superintendent," said Lou Petrucci, BPS school board president.
The board is having a special meeting is at 5 p.m. Thursday at Buffalo City Hall.
Dr. Williams has been serving in the interim role since March.
2 On Your Side's Danielle Church also spoke to board member Terrance Heard, who says if there's a vote Thursday, his will be a "yes."
"If there's a vote, I highly support Dr. Tonja Williams in this role and in this manner," Heard said. "I just really think she earned her way to lead this district in any capacity she can, and as an interim superintendent, she's done a wonderful job."
A source also forwarded 2 On Your Side an invite the principal's union sent to its members, encouraging them to attend Thursday's meeting to "show support for our new superintendent."
Heard says there was no national search conducted and says the board is not obligated to do that, but instead must find the person best suited.
The Buffalo Common Council passed a resolution in March for the board to search locally as well.
Heard says the board has not even interviewed anyone else for the position though. He says Williams has been in the district for a few decades, formerly serving as a principal and administrative assistant.
Though Heard believes Williams is the right fit, other people such as Sam Radford with the "We the Parents" group worry the board could be rushing a decision if they receive the 5 "yes" votes needed Thursday, especially when he says students have been falling even more behind after the pandemic.
"We are in a crisis right now, and right now, the right leader is critically important, and if it's Dr. Williams, great. But we need to know for sure," Radford said.
"The consequence of a bad decision right now as superintendent is going to compound an already very serious situation. We cannot afford for the board to make a bad decision. Again, we're going to do everything to help her be successful, if she's selected. But if they made this rushed decision right now, it's going to impact the city for a generation."
However, it is standard procedure in many cases that a formal national search is done to fill a position of this caliber.
Superintendent Mike Cornell with Hamburg Schools also serves as the President of Erie-Niagara School Superintendents Associatiom. He said when it comes to hiring, it can go either way really.
"Even though search firms are commonly used, it certainly is no guarantee that you're going to select a person who's going to be in that role for longer than three and a half years," Cornell said.
Finding the right "fit" can be challenging. Cornell said sometimes personality is the most important thing, and other times experience is. Ultimately, though, he says looking for someone who can work well for the district, the community, families, stakeholders, faculty, staff and students needs to be the priority, and not the process, per say.
"I think it's a mistake to focus only on the process and forget about the outcome," Cornell said. "Whether you do a search or don't do a search, you've got to find the person who's the right fit, character capacity, professional experiences, (and who) demonstrates they have the ability to answer the key questions associated with school leadership."
That's a job entrusted to the school board, which is not always an easy task.
"If you talk to the average school board member, somebody who's served on a board of education for five years or more, and you ask that person, 'What's the most important job you have?' they'll tell you the most important job they have is to select a great superintendent," Cornell said.