Fox C-6 School District Board of Education members are expected to take the first step toward hiring a superintendent to replace Nisha Patel at its next board meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 2.
The district announced last week that Patel is leaving at the end of this school year to take a job as the superintendent of the School District of Clayton. Patel has been Fox’s superintendent since July 1, 2019, after serving as the district’s assistant superintendent for secondary education since July 1, 2016.
“This is the most important task for the school board,” said Vicki Hanson, the board president. “We need to get this done in a timely manner so we can move forward as a district, have a smooth transition and select the best candidate who is a good match for our district.”
Patel, who is being paid a $182,500 annual salary this school year, will officially leave the district June 30 and becomes Clayton’s superintendent on July 1, when she starts a three-year contract and will be paid $215,000 in her first year at that district.
The Fox school board began the process to look for a firm to help with the superintendent search during a Jan. 21 special meeting and the next day sent out requests for proposals from firms that provide those services, said Kelly Bracht, Fox’s assistant superintendent for human resources.
The board also voted unanimously at the special meeting to release Patel from her contract, which had two years remaining.
Hanson said she hopes to have representatives from firms make presentations about overseeing the superintendent search during the Feb. 2 board meeting, which will begin at 7 p.m. at the Fox C-6 Service Center, 849 Jeffco Blvd., in Arnold.
Board members likely will choose a firm at that meeting, Hanson said.
She also said she hopes the board can announce the selection of a new superintendent by the end of March.
“The issue is the slower the start on this, you will have a smaller field of candidates,” Hanson said. “We may have to have a lot of special board meetings to get this done.”
Hanson said her desire to complete the hiring process so quickly has nothing to do with the upcoming April election when two seats are up for election.
Hanson and fellow incumbent Jim Chellew will face challengers James (Jim) Osia, Shannon Ponzar, Rick Lamborn, Travis Lintner, Avery Fortenberry, Whendy Moore and April Moeckel for two three-year terms on the board.
“It is not about the election,” Hanson said. “That is not on my radar at all.”
The search
During the Jan. 21 special meeting, board members agreed Fox should hire a firm to oversee the search for the next superintendent.
The district used Missouri School Boards’ Association (MSBA) when it hired Patel to replace Jim Wipke, who left Fox after the 2018-2019 school year to become the superintendent of the Ladue School District. Fox paid MSBA $16,220 to conduct that search, district records show.
MSBA also handled Fox’s search when Wipke was hired in 2015 to replace Dianne Critchlow, who retired in October 2014 in a swirl of controversy that included a Missouri State Auditor’s Office report that claimed there had been tens of thousands of dollars of improper spending under her watch. However, no criminal charges were filed.
The Fox district paid MSBA $15,690 to handle the search that led to Wipke’s hiring, according to district records.
During the special meeting last week, Hanson said she already had contacted MSBA and the McPherson and Jacobson firm to inquire about their services. She said MSBA charges 8 percent of the hired superintendent’s first-year salary, plus expenses. McPherson and Jacobson charges $17,900.
Hanson said she also has researched Ray and Associates and GR Recruiting as possible candidates to help with the superintendent search.
During the special meeting, Hanson said district staff, students, parents and community members will be included in the search process, and the board will seek input from all stakeholders about what qualities they are looking for in a superintendent.
Superintendent qualities
Chellew said the next superintendent will need to wear many hats.
“I want to see someone who is engaged with the community,” he said. “I want to see someone who can improve our financial situation. We run an operating balance that is marginal and needs to be worked on. We also need to work on finding ways to improve our student achievement. Finally, facility issues will always be an issue for us. That will require somebody who has the ability to move that forward.”
Board member Michelle Chamberlain said she would like the next superintendent to have many of the qualities Patel and Wipke brought to the job.
“I want a superintendent who is focused on students, and that our kids are graduating with a purpose,” Chamberlain said. “Dr. Patel’s saying is, ‘promise and purpose,’ and she lived it. I want somebody who really wants to hear from our community and cares what our community has to say. I hope we as a board can come together and choose somebody with those similar qualities.”
Hanson said the next district leader needs to be someone who can follow through with the district’s promise of improving school facilities with funds from Proposition P, a $40 million bond issue voters approved in June 2020.
“You want someone focused, visible and who can work towards the goals of improving student achievement and building teams with the Board of Education, parents, staff, community and students,” she added.
Randy Gilman, the Fox district’s assistant superintendent for elementary education, and Tammy Cardona, the assistant superintendent for secondary education, said they may decide to apply for the superintendent position.
“It is something that may have to be considered,” said Gilman, who graduated from the district and has been employed there for 26 years, serving as an assistant superintendent for the past six years. “I don’t know the direction the board wants to go in. It is something to ponder.”
“I will not count myself out,” said Cardona, who has worked for the district since 1999 and was promoted to her current role in 2019 after serving as the Seckman Middle School principal. “I will take my direction from the board and what they are looking for and see if that is a direction I fit.”
Patel’s exit
Patel said she learned Clayton would be searching for a superintendent when that district’s current superintendent, Sean Doherty, announced in September his plans to retire.
She said she applied for the job late in its application period, which ran from Oct. 29 through Dec. 3.
“It was an extremely difficult decision for me,” said Patel, 48, of Chesterfield. “I have built so many relationships in the Fox School District, and we have worked really hard to try and get some things moving toward the vision I have for the district. I just wish I could have done more.
“At the same time, I know (Clayton) is a place I can continue to grow and lead.”
Patel, who was born in Kenya and moved to the U.S. when she was 9, is in her 22nd year as an educator. She started her career in 1999 as a science teacher in Kansas City, Kan., and she came to the St. Louis area in 2007 when she was hired as a science teacher at Eureka High School in the Rockwood School District.
Patel started her administrative career in 2009, when she became the assistant principal at Eureka High, and then she was the associate principal at Lafayette High School from 2011 to 2013. She finished her time at Rockwood as principal at Crestview Middle School.
In her second year as the Fox district’s superintendent, she was named the Emerging Missouri Superintendent of the Year by the Missouri Association of School Administrators.
Clayton district officials said Patel was one of 22 applicants they considered for the top job at their district, and Clayton’s Board of Education members voted unanimously Jan. 14 to hire her.
“What Nisha has accomplished is impressive,” Clayton Board of Education president Joe Miller said. “Her commitment to students is impressive. She talked about at Fox, which is two or three times the size of Clayton, that she goes to every classroom once a quarter. That shows a commitment to students.
“She clearly gets that relationships are the foundation for everything. It is the ultimate foundation for student success and the foundation for adults to support and facilitate the teaching of students.”
Patel will go from running a district with 11,163 students and 17 schools, an early childhood center and an alternative school at Fox to a district with 2,529 students and five schools and an early childhood center at Clayton.
“I will do whatever I can to help the new superintendent transition into Fox,” Patel said. “I will be the support system or whatever they need. It is important to me that the person who takes over here is successful because it is for the kids.”
Patel’s legacy
Patel said during her time as Fox’s superintendent, she and other school officials and staff have encouraged students to push themselves and believe they can achieve anything they set their minds to.
“I feel everything we did was student centered, from the curriculum work, to the sixth-grade transition (out of elementary schools and into middle schools), to the belief they can do anything they want to,” she said. “And, we have capital improvement projects coming up to improve their learning environment so they can succeed and thrive.”
She said she was thrilled voters approved Prop P, which will fund major renovations at Antonia and Meramec Heights elementary schools and Fox High School, along with numerous other projects.
“I will always remember the community’s support to pass Prop P to allow us to work on our buildings that need so much attention,” Patel said.
Chellew said Patel’s ability to connect with students and the community will be missed.
“She included students and heard their voices,” Chellew said. “She was probably better at public relations than anyone I have ever seen in the district.”
Gilman said Patel’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic was impressive.
“It was an unprecedented time, and it didn’t matter what decision was made, there was going to be people unhappy,” Gilman said. “Trying to keep kids and employees safe while educating kids was a major undertaking. I think she did a great job handling that and keeping things balanced.”
Cardona said Patel did a wonderful job getting parents involved in the district.
“She was good a bringing people together and got parents to notice what is happening in our district,” Cardona said.
No matter how people remember her time at Fox, Patel said she will always remember feeling like the community was behind her and her decisions.
“I want to thank the students, staff and parents for always supporting me and believing in me,” Patel said.