The Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS) Board of Education voted unanimously on Monday evening to hire Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates (HYA) to spearhead the school district’s search for a new superintendent.
HYA is a national education consulting firm based in Schaumberg, Illinois. The firm was one of three entities – along with Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB) and Ray and Associates, Inc. –the board voted to interview at their meeting two weeks ago.

A “Board Search Firm Interview Task Force” – made up of Interim Superintendent Jim Pavelka and board members Pam Forton, Erica Moon Mohr, and Benjamin McGuire – interviewed representatives from all three search firms last Thursday, January 23. Pavelka said at Monday’s meeting that the four task force members quickly reached a consensus that HYA would best fit the school district’s needs.

Forton said that the deciding factor in favor of Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates was the firm’s balance between national presence and in-state focus. “The fact that they were a national firm, I thought their reach would be a little bit larger, but they also had a really strong Michigan presence,” she said. Forton also noted that the two consultants who would be leading the TCAPS superintendent search for HYA were Michigan superintendents themselves: one a former 25-year superintendent of East Grand Rapids schools, the other a current superintendent working in Ypsilanti.

TCAPS will now conduct reference checks to ensure that HYA is a suitable hire. Barring any unexpected findings, the district will begin work with the firm on what is expected to be a 12-16-week search for a new superintendent. HYA’s quoted price for the service is $21,500, plus potential extra costs for travel, candidate background checks, and more.