AURORA | Aurora’s two school districts may follow familiar patterns when it comes to choosing new superintendents in the coming months.

In 2006, the Aurora Public Schools Board of Education hired a nontraditional candidate as the district’s new superintendent. Retired two-star Air Force General John Barry came to the job with a background more rooted in the military than in public education. In 2009, the Cherry Creek Schools board pulled their new leader from their own ranks, promoting former teacher and administrator Mary Chesley to the district’s top post.

Barry and Chesley are planning to leave their posts in July, and the APS and Cherry Creek boards are already moving to find their replacements. It’s early in the process, but early hints from both districts show that the past may be a good guide for the future.

According to APS board President JulieMarie Shepherd, the board is already looking to conduct a national search and look at a wide range of candidates. That’s not to say that the district is set on another former military commander, but the wide scope could yield more nontraditional candidates.

“The board has committed to a national search … We will be looking for applications from across the country,” Shepherd said, adding that the process will include plenty of public comment. “We recognize that with a district of this size and how embedded APS is in the community, it is important to get feedback from the community.”

Meanwhile, officials from Cherry Creek have already hinted at a specific internal candidate. After Mary Chesley officially announced her upcoming retirement at the Cherry Creek board meeting Dec. 10, board President Jennifer Churchfield mentioned current Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Harry Bull as a potential replacement. Bull has worked in the district for more than 30 years. If hired, he would work on a year-to-year contract.

According to Churchfield, the coming months will see the board interviewing Bull on the specifics of the superintendent post.

“He’s our first internal candidate. That will be a process of presentation and several interviews, whatever the board feels we need to do as far as our ability to determine Dr. Bull’s qualifications,” Churchfield said. “We would have to then announce that in a resolution at either a board meeting or a study session. State statute would need us to allow two weeks for the public to respond.”

While the district’s first moves may hint at the candidate to come, many details remain to be finalized. At APS, the board will finalize a search firm to conduct the national interview process. Shepherd said that the Colorado Association of School Boards is a potential choice to lead the search, adding that the choice for a new superintendent will be made by the end of July.

“Once we finalize our search firm, we will sit down with them and sketch out what our community feedback and engagement will look like,” Shepherd said.

The board will also nail down specific qualities they’re looking for in a new superintendent, qualities that will likely be tied to the district’s growth in the past five years. Considering the recent progress of achievement-based programs like Pathways and Vista 2015, the emphasis will remain on improving test scores, graduation rates and other important markers.

Cherry Creek board members may have a more narrow scope for their search, but Churchfield said they’ll still focus on specific priorities in interviews with Bull. In addition to issues of student achievement, Churchfield said the focus will be on looming legislation related to education policy in Colorado.

“I would think that the (new superintendent) would have to have a strong fiscal understanding of the school finance act. I would say that the changes with the implementation of Senate Bill 191 will be critical,” Churchfield said, referring to legislation that implements new requirements for evaluating teachers and principals. “The implementation of the Colorado Academic Standards are going to be huge.

“I would look for someone who would have a very strong understanding of those three areas,” she added.

Reach reporter Adam Goldstein at agoldstein@aurorasentinel.com or 720-449-9707