The search for Howard County's next superintendent is on, and school board members hope to have a replacement for Superintendent Sydney Cousin by late spring.

The board finalized a timeline for finding a new superintendent on Nov. 16, less than two weeks after announcing it had hired a search firm to aid in that process.

"We know that you're going to make a lot of decisions in the future, but we know you made the right decision in hiring our firm," said Gary Ray, president of the search firm hired, assured the board last week. Ray's firm, the Iowa-based Ray & Associates, was picked from among four companies bidding for the job.

Cousin has served as head of the system since 2004. He has been with the school system almost continuously since 1987, first as director of school construction and planning and then as associate superintendent of finance and operations. He was the system's deputy superintendent and chief operating officer in 2003, when he briefly left the system for a position in the Washington, D.C. public school system before returning to serve as Howard superintendent.

Cousin battled health problems earlier this year, taking an extended medical leave before returning to work last spring. He announced in May that he would be retiring in June 2012. At a recent meeting, Cousin acknowledged the importance of the search as he outlined his goals for the 2011-2012 academic year.

"We're talking about the future, and you know I won't be here after June 30," Cousin said Nov. 17. "We need to have built up a legacy in the school system — it's the people we have in our classroom, administrators we have in our buildings, but it's also the custodians, the bus drivers and food service workers and others who work as a family to make the Howard County system the number one system that it is, and that it will continue to be."

One of Cousin's goals for the remainder of the academic year, he said, is to implement a comprehensive leadership development program and succession plan for all system leaders – himself included.

Next month, the school system will begin advertising for a new superintendent through outlets like Education Week, a weekly national publication focused on education, and the American Association of School Administrators. Ray said they will recruit at the AASA convention in Houston in February, where qualified, desirable candidates will already be gathered.

With the finalized search timeline, the board has scheduled meetings with the firm, constituents and interested groups like the PTA Council of Howard County.

The board also set a deadline for applications for the position: Feb. 21, 2012.

In March, the board will interview candidates in two rounds.

"I don't think you can have a marriage after one date," said board Vice Chairwoman Sandra French, who served on the board during a superintendent search in 2000. "What I really liked about that first process is that when we had two finalists, we invited them to the county, showed their wives the area. …We had an afternoon reception with employees, and an evening reception for the public for casual conversation."

Both French and Ray warned against a "parade of candidates," but French stressed the importance of having finalists interact with the public, since that ability is an important part of the job.

A profile of required and desired traits for the next superintendent will be completed by Dec. 14, though board members offered varying views last week on exactly what they were looking for.

Allen Dyer said he wanted a "non-traditional" candidate and was "not interested in the best superintendent in the world. … There's more than just one person that could fill this position."

But board member Brian Meshkin begged to differ.

"I do want the best superintendent in the world," Meshkin said. "This is a hard position to fill because the system is so high-performing to find the person not only willing to accept that mantle and put the yoke on, and to move the needle the last mile is hard."