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Administrative Procedures 4000 - Personnel
Administrative Procedure 4113 - Principal Selection Process

Administrative Procedure 4113 - Principal Selection Process

I. PURPOSE

To provide an administrative procedure for the principal selection process for Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS).

II. POLICY

The Board of Education of Prince George’s County (Board) policy is to ensure that stakeholders, which include staff, parents, community groups and high school students (for high school principals), are involved and participate in the principal selection process. (Board Policy 4113)

III. BACKGROUND

PGCPS encourages parental and community interaction with local schools and recognizes the principal as the corporate head of the local school and primary link between the community and the school system. Thus, PGCPS ensures involvement of staff, parents, community groups and high school students (for high school principals) in the principal selection process through this administrative procedure.

IV. DEFINITIONS

  1. Aspiring Leadership Program for Students’ Success (ALPSS) – A leadership program for assistant principals and central office supervisors who aspire to become principals. ALPSS guides a cohort of leaders through face-to-face sessions, shadowing, and mentoring opportunities to prepare them to become PGCPS school leaders.
  2. Facility Advisory Committee (FAC) – A committee that may exist in each school as outlined by the Prince George’s County Educators’ Association (PGCEA) and the Board’s negotiated agreement.
  3. Prescreening – The process used to determine if an applicant meets the minimal state requirements for a principalship.

V. PROCEDURES

  1. When a school principal vacancy is announced, Human Resources will collaborate with the applicable Area Office associate superintendent to announce the school principal opening via a letter on the school’s website. Communications will notify the community via the school’s website to provide information about the process with frequently asked questions. A leadership profile survey will also be posted on the school’s website to engage stakeholders in their vision of the new principal for their school community.

  2. Human Resources will lead the principal screening, advertisement, and selection process. The process includes:

    1. Advertising School Principal Pool or Developing the Principal Candidate Pool

      Human Resources will advertise the principal pool opening from the first Monday in October through December 31 of each academic year, while maintaining the flexibility to reopen or extend the pool as needed to respond to evolving hiring demands.

    2. Applicant Prescreening

      1. To develop an eligible candidate pool, Human Resources will:

        1. Pre-screen the applicant pool to create a principal talent pool. The pre-screening process includes:

          1. verifying credentials and qualifications;
          2. a leadership assessment;
          3. an interview with a committee representative of district divisions, such as School Support and Leadership, Academics, Human Resources, Chief of Staff, and Accountability.
      2. Human Resources will maintain this eligibility list based on the needs of PGCPS for two (2) academic years.
      3. Eligible candidates in the PGCPS Aspiring Leadership Program for Students’ Success (ALPSS) and individuals in a Superintendent-approved “acting” principal role are exempt from the applicant pre-screening process. Eligible assistant principal candidates from ALPSS and in an acting principal role will automatically advance to and participate in school specific interviews set forth in section V.B.3.
      4. Notwithstanding any standard timeline or process outlined in this procedure, the Superintendent retains full authority to modify, streamline, expedite, or waive any step of the selection process (including screening assessments, interview panels, or stakeholder involvement) based on immediate operational needs of the district, urgent staffing requirements and needs mid-year vacancies, or administrative reassignments.

    3. School-Specific Panel Interviews

      1. Selected candidates from the principal pool will be interviewed by a community panel comprised of:

        1. A representative(s) from Human Resources;
        2. The Associate Superintendent from the school’s area;
        3. The school-specific Instructional Director (ID);
        4. No more than four (4) faculty members from the school, which may be drawn from the school’s Facility Advisory Committee (FAC) members;
        5. Two (2) support staff members from the school;
        6. Four (4) school-specific community members; and
        7. Two (2) high school students for high school panels.
      2. The ID requests individuals from the school community to submit their name if interested in participating on the interview panel.
      3. The community panel members will have the opportunity to provide their recommendation to the Superintendent for consideration in selection of the new principal.

      4. Using the recommendations and the comprehensive feedback from the community panel, the Area Office associate superintendent will recommend a candidate(s) for a second panel interview with the Chief of Schools.

        1. The Chief of Schools will review the recommendation to select candidates for second panel interviews.

    4. Second Panel Interviews

      1. The Chief of Schools will conduct second round interviews with selected candidates from the community panel.
      2. The Chief of Schools will provide a recommendation of selected candidate(s) for a finalist dialogue with the Superintendent to be considered in the selection of the new principal.

    5. Finalist Dialogue

      1. The Superintendent will consider candidates recommended from the school-specific community panel interview and from the Chief of Schools second-panel interviews when making the principal selection for school vacancies.
      2. Finalist candidates will participate in a dialogue with the Superintendent along with representative(s) from the executive cabinet to determine a recommended candidate for Board appointment.

  3. Recommendation for Board Appointment

    1. Human Resources will present the candidate, whom the Superintendent has chosen to recommend to the Board. See Administrative Procedure 4112.3.
    2. If the Board approves the appointment of the candidate, Human Resources will notify the candidate of the Board’s approval.
    3. The Area Office Associate Superintendent/school-specific ID shall notify the school community of the principal selection after approval by the Board and the candidate’s final acceptance of the offer.

  4. The Superintendent reserves the right to:

    1. Place a candidate in an acting position up to six (6) months (180 days) if the permanent employee is absent or in extenuating circumstances as determined by the Superintendent; and
    2. Select a candidate outside the scope of this administrative procedure based on the needs of the school system, including the discretion to make instructional leadership transfers. Such decisions shall be made in compliance with Board Policy 0125 and Administrative Procedure 4170.

VI. MONITORING AND COMPLIANCE

The Chief of Human Resources will annually review a random selection of principal candidates’ folders to ensure compliance with this administrative procedure.

VII. RELATED POLICIES AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES

VIII. LEGAL REFERENCE

MD. CODE ANN., EDUC. §§ 4-103, 4-205, 6-201

IX. MAINTENANCE AND UPDATE OF THIS ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE

This administrative procedure originates with the Division of Human Resources and will be updated by that division as necessary.

X. HISTORY

Adopted 09/01/1994
Amended 09/01/2004
Amended 04/14/2010
Amended 11/15/2010
Amended 01/15/2014
Amended 02/05/2019
Amended 02/05/2023
Amended 02/10/2025
Amended 10/13/2025
Amended 8/19/2026

XI. EFFECTIVE DATE

August 19, 2026

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