CHARLOTTE -- The results are in from two different surveys seeking the best person to lead Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.
The CMS Board of Education’s search firm conducted one survey, and the non-profit education advocacy group MeckEd did another.
"It's such a big job and such an important job, we don't want to get it wrong,” said Ross Danis, MeckEd president.
MeckEd conducted an independent survey from the school district and found many people were disappointed with how the last superintendent left.
Heath Morrison was forced to resign with no explanation to the public.
"We found, unsolicited, people in the room bringing his name up,” said Danis.
But after that sudden departure, the school board wanted to make sure the community was part of the next superintendent search.
"With a lot of upheaval that we've had, we needed to do something that was going to calm the fears,” said Mary McCray, CMS board chair Wednesday.
So McCray says they plan to use the community feedback from both surveys released this week to guide their hiring process.
"We'll look at those tenants of both of those things and see where the meshing is,” said McCray.
Those 'meshing' points ring clear in both survey results.
CMS’ search firm found 'communication and transparency' as the top qualities the community values for the next superintendent, while nearly 80 percent of people in MeckEd's survey say they want someone who's 'highly ethical' and 'builds trust.’
So as this process moves forward in the coming months, MeckEd plans to keep the community engaged to make sure the new superintendent builds that trust between CMS and the public again.
"We're going to continue to represent their voices,” said Danis.
To view the full survey results from the CMS search firm visit their website here.
To view the results from MeckEd’s survey visit here.