The families of Seattle Public Schools have spoken: They want an experienced superintendent who is not from Seattle and will respect the unique needs of the diverse district’s numerous subcommunities.

This was the consensus shared by Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, the company hired by the district to find a new superintendent, after the firm conducted more than 30 listening sessions with staff, parents, students, residents and community organizations to understand what SPS stakeholders wanted in a new leader.

“This was a herculean effort to work across the summer,” said Micah Ali, an associate at HYA, as he summarized the report of the firm’s findings in a presentation to a mostly empty board room Tuesday afternoon. “We were able to accommodate each and every individual group and the

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