Board of Education Muscatine Community School District Monday ...

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to move from a high performing suburbia district to a district that has challenges and the type of
demographics we have.
Mr. McGrory noted that this is his 18 th year as an administrator where he has been a principal at
high performing schools and at risk schools throughout his administrative career. He shared that
he and his family were looking to move back to Iowa and this gave him time to reflect on where
he wanted to put his energy and where his passion lies. He shared that as an administrator he
wanted to be a part of a school district where he feels like he can make a difference and can
bring his skill set that he has acquired from all of his previous schools. He stated that Muscatine
Schools meets that need.
Director Mather noted that the district is in the middle of superintendent search and asked how
Mr. McGrory found out about the job opening.
Mr. McGrory stated that he saw an advertisement in the Des Moines Register.
Director of Human Resource Wes stated that the district uses the Des Moines Register, Career
Builder, and REAP.
Director Mather then asked Mr. McGrory how he approaches coming into a job when you don’t
know who your boss will be.
Mr. McGrory stated that he has worked under eight superintendents and that if this was his first
administration experience there might be more trepidation; however, this is not a concern for
him because he has the skill set and background to work with any superintendent. He shared
that in his past, he has gotten along with his superintendents, so this is not a concern of his.
Director Mather then stated that he is very pleased to meet Mr. McGrory. He noted that he has
looked through his papers and did some impromptu background checking and feels that Mr.
McGrory will be a great fit. He stated that he will be voting no tonight; however, his nay vote
has nothing to do with Mr. McGrory as it is his opinion that when you have someone new
coming in the superintendent position that the new person should be involved in the selection
of the high school principal. He further stated that he looks forward to working with Mr.
McGrory.
The motion passed with six ayes and Mr. Mather voting nay.
Director Garcia-­‐Van Auken stated that she had the same feeling as Director Mather and had
asked five different superintendents if they were in that position would they hire a principal and
all five said that they would not and would make it an interim position. She noted that after
hearing what she did tonight and that 70 people were involved in the process, she changed her
vote and looks forward to working with Mr. McGrory.
Superintendent Decker asked Mr. McGrory if the principal job would have been advertised in
June or July would he have been an applicant. Mr. McGrory responded that he would not have
been. Superintendent Decker then stated that getting a quality individual for this position is
what it is all about and from this perspective he would disagree with both Directors Mather and
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