Beaverton board reviews superintendent criteria after 1,600+ community responses; members press for clearer language on strategy, finance and safety

The Beaverton School Board met in a work session Dec. 3 to review a draft of the district’s superintendent selection criteria, a one‑page framework informed by focus groups and an online survey.

Consultant Christy (presenter) told the board the search team received "over 1,600 respondents, across focus groups and surveys," and that multilingual outreach broadened participation. She said the team organized findings into six strengths and six challenges and drafted four headline criteria themes to guide recruiting and applicant review.

Board members and consultants framed the criteria as aspirational rather than a job description that would be used for evaluation. "This criteria document is your document to make yours," Christy said, explaining the board will refine wording and that formal qualifications and licensure will be checked separately through the application portal.

Why it matters: The criteria will shape the candidate pool and help the board communicate priorities to prospective superintendents. Directors said they want the one‑page framework to make priorities explicit so applicants and the community understand the district’s expectations.

What the draft emphasized: Presenters summarized the most common strengths as the district’s people, community belonging, partnerships and financial stewardship; academic program variety; and student supports. Challenges included inconsistent instruction across schools, communication gaps, future budget pressures, school climate and student behavior, limited mental‑health capacity and staff burnout.

Board priorities and requested changes: Directors pressed for stronger, action‑oriented language in several areas. Common suggestions the board asked staff to incorporate into the next draft included:
- Strategic planning and instructional leadership: multiple board members asked that the criteria explicitly call for a superintendent with experience leading district‑level strategic planning and demonstrated, evidence‑based instructional leadership.
- Fiscal stewardship, bonds and levies: directors asked that the draft name or more clearly reflect the need for experience managing bonds, levies and complex district finances, citing upcoming levy and bond work on the district timeline.
- Collaboration and community partnership: members asked that "collaborative" leadership appear more prominently, covering families, staff, peer superintendents and local government partners.
- Student voice and actionable safety commitments: directors asked for language that elevates student voice beyond listening to a requirement that student perspectives inform decisions, and for clearer, actionable expectations related to student safety and responses to bias incidents.

Process and next steps: Presenters asked board members to submit specific wording suggestions to staff by Sunday morning so the superintendent search subcommittee can produce a redraft before the Dec. 9 work session. Presenters also noted public comment on the criteria closes Friday at 4 p.m.; the subcommittee will meet at noon to incorporate input and aim to present a redraft at the Dec. 9 work session, with the goal of finalizing language for action at the regular board meeting that evening.

No formal votes were taken in the work session. The presenters told the board their role for the evening was complete and turned the meeting back to board leadership, which closed the session at 7:18 p.m.

Sources: Consultants and staff presentations and board member discussion at the Beaverton School Board work session, Dec. 3, 2025. Direct quotes and participation counts come from the meeting transcript.