Sophomore Nicole Segaran puts her books away into her backpack. Segaran said she hoped that the district would implement school start times.

According to school board president Layla Spanenberg, the Carmel Clay School District is working with the Indiana School Board Assocation (ISBA) in its search for a new superintendent after Dr. Nicholas Wahl resigned in January.

“We have a relationship with the ISBA. We’ve worked closely with them for many years. The board even goes to professional development provided by the ISBA. We feel very confident in their ability to assist us in the search,” Spanenberg said. “It’s not a one-size-fits-all in that we can select the services. The school board will not be paying for services that it does not need.”

Previously, the board utilized a national search firm; however, Spanenberg said the basic components of the search would remain the same as before. Working with the community and district employees in order to create a profile of an ideal superintendent, the board will identify key characteristics the community seeks in the new superintendent. According to Spanenberg, the board is still in the beginning stages of developing the application process with the ISBA; the board hopes to have a new superintendent in place by the beginning of the next school year.

At the board’s next workshop in March, Spanenberg said the board would further discuss recommendations presented at the February workshop.

“There are so many other components to implementing change that needs to be addressed. at our meeting, all of those great ideas that came from program evaluation were shared. The next step is to continue to unpack some of these ideas and see how that might impact the day,” Spanenberg said. “One of the ideas…is to increase the amount of time spent on innovative, inquiry-based ideas in the classroom, increasing the time students and teachers are able to explore some of this inquiry-based learning.”

Another recommendation proposed increasing recess time for elementary schools, thus lengthening the school day. Such a change could impact the schedules of the middle schools and CHS as well.

“It’s kind of a domino effect,” she said. “We have to look at the big picture of how each area of the school day is going to impact each other.”

Sophomore Nicole Segaran said she hoped the schedule changes included a later start time.

“I think that starting later would help students focus because they would get a better night of rest,” she said.