Denver Public Schools hopes to announce its replacement for outgoing Superintendent Susana Cordova by the end of June, the last step in a search that board leaders say will be focused on community engagement and feedback.

The board is currently working on the first phase of its search: drafting a “narrative” describing the job and selecting a firm to help find candidates, steps that it hopes to have completed by Jan. 22. Between February and late April, the board will begin accepting applications and will set interviews for candidates. By the end of May, finalists will be announced (non-finalist candidates will remain confidential), and a month later, Cordova’s replacement will be unveiled.

Board members have yet to choose a search firm and is still working on drafting its narrative for the position, they said during a meeting Monday night.

The board’s president and vice president, Carrie Olson and Jennifer Bacon, described draft tactics and values that would accompany each of those three phases. Each of those principals and plans circle back to public communication and feedback. The district will launch a superintendent search website and will push for public comment — including a special meeting Wednesday.

As the search moves further, Bacon and Olson discussed giving the community “access and influence,” meaning the ability to participate in the search and give feedback that influences the board’s hiring. Efforts to spur public input could include community surveys, crowd-sourced interview questions, focus groups and 1-on-1 or 2-on-1 meetings. 

Cordova, who announced last month that she was leaving for an administrative job in the Dallas public education system, will depart the district at the end of December. She’ll be replaced temporarily by Dwight Jones, the district’s deputy superintendent for equity.

Cordova will be followed out the door by Mark Ferrandino, the district’s deputy superintendent for operations and a former state legislator. Last month, Gov. Jared Polis announced that Ferrandino would take over as the executive director of the Department of Revenue. 

Before Olson and Bacon described the search process, other DPS employees praised Cordova and Ferrandino, particularly for their focus on underserved and minority communities within the district. Heather Intres, the executive director of the district’s extended learning and community schools program, said Cordova made her feel as if “after school isn’t an afterthought.” She shared a video of employees and students thanking the departing administrator. 

Robin Greene, the director of student equity and opportunity, said that Cordova’s “vision was set in equity,” which allowed Greene “space where we can truly try to dismantle” systems of oppression.