Coyne plans to appoint a search committee comprising School Committee, school staff and community members in early October, he said on Thursday.
He also has invited Ronald Barker, deputy executive director of the Maine School Management Association, to speak at a School Committee workshop on Nov. 7.
Coyne said he's asking Barker and others who have participated in superintendent searches for advice on how many people should be on the committee, the criteria and time line for a national search.
"I don't want to reinvent the wheel," Coyne said. "If there are tools out there, I want to use them."
He and other committee members have said they expect the search to be difficult, following budget problems that led School Finance Director Richard Paulson to resign on July 30 and Superintendent Mary Jo O'Connor to resign on Aug. 29.
Last week, the committee appointed Jeanne Whynot-Vickers, assistant superintendent, to be interim superintendent through June.
Coyne said O'Connor, who was superintendent for more than six years, will be an on-call consultant to the district until her departure on Dec. 28.
Coyne said he hopes to advertise the superintendent's position in national journals and on professional Web sites by the end of November.
He said he would like to complete the search and hiring process in time to have a new superintendent in place by July.
He concedes that it's a tall order. The committee was unable to find an outside candidate who was willing to take the job temporarily.
Some committee members have said it will take a special person to accept the job permanently, given the district's significant financial and administrative challenges.
Those challenges include the cost-cutting requirements of the state's new school consolidation law and a student enrollment that has dropped from 14,000 to 7,000 in the last 27 years.
Coyne said he believes the consolidation law may work in Portland's favor as other districts combine and experienced superintendents anticipate losing their jobs.
Districts with fewer than 2,500 students are expected to combine to form larger districts unless they fall under exceptions in the law, such as island schools.
Coyne is committed to a national search but said candidates with a strong knowledge of Maine's educational programs, laws and financial requirements would be welcomed.
Staff Writer Kelley Bouchard can be contacted at 791-6328 or at:
kbouchard@pressherald.com
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