The Crookston Public School Board met for a Special meeting on Monday afternoon to make a decision on the progress and steps moving forward in the upcoming Superintendent Search.
The board began the meeting with Chairperson Frank Fee introducing Lee Warne of the Minnesota School Board Association, who was joining the meeting about the MSBA’s assistance in finding the next superintendent.
Warne began by introducing a layout of the MSBA’s plan of their hiring process and the areas they sent their advertisements for new superintendents to which the board would have to set a timeline. The first part was to put out the applications on some advertising sites that will allow them to learn more about their applicants from January 27 to February 6. They would then pick two dates between January 24-February 1 to practice the interview process for the next superintendent. Due to them having their next School Board meeting on January 23, where they could make a decision, the board chose to move it earlier on January 23 at 3:00 p.m. to hold the training before the meeting. The board would then get the chance to pick the date of when they would choose their finalists after the process is completed. After much discussion, the board decided on February 15, at 4:00 p.m., to give them enough time to finalize the results for the referendum election on February 14.
They then had to select two dates to hold their first round of interviews, which they selected to be February 21 and 23, with the second round, where they could potentially offer the contract to an applicant, on February 25, at 10:00 a.m. The board asked if the MSBA would give any recommendations on what they could do for salary discussions, to which Warne answered they could offer advice, but the final decision would be up to the School Board.
Warne then asked which contract the board would choose, the full search or limited search, to impact how much help the MSBA would have in the search process, which the board agreed to select the limited search. “I think the board chose the limited option, mainly because it saves the district about $5,000 and I think because of the board’s experience with interviewing and selecting superintendent candidates as well as the experience in the district office with those that have been through the superintendent search in previous years. They felt comfortable that we could do the limited option and take care of it. The limited option is simply that the MSBA will help you until you get to the process of interviewing and selecting candidates at that point,” Interim Superintendent Dave Kuehn explained. “Usually, the district has to do most of the legwork anyway on inviting candidates, and the board has to ask questions and make decisions on who they select to interview, what questions they want to ask, and who moves forward in the process.” Kuehn explained that he, Business Manager Laura Lyczewski and Executive Assistant to the Superintendent Marilyn Wahouske would take care of the interview process and candidate selections which the board approved unanimously.
The board then began discussing what they would do for salaries and benefits for the new superintendent’s contract and was offered four options of what they could offer for the contract. After much discussion and listening to results from other school districts, the board chose the final option, which was a competitive compensation and benefits package that would be negotiated commensurate with experience and qualifications, with the contract length being negotiable as provided by the Minnesota Statute. “That’s what the board chose to put on the advertisement for the position and keep things pretty open-ended in terms of having the flexibility to negotiate a contract based on the Superintendent that’s chosen and what they bring to the school district,” Kuehn explained. “Some may bring more experience than others, some may not have as much, so it gives the board the flexibility to negotiate a contract that’s fair and appropriate to the candidate’s qualifications.”
They then began discussions on the stakeholders’ input, where Interim Superintendent Keuhn requested for the board to give feedback on an electronic survey he planned to send to students, staff, and community members about what they’re looking for in the next superintendent that would go from January 2-13. “We know we can reach students, staff, and parents via our email or messaging systems, but we’ll have to work with some of the different media and social media to try to get some links and information out to our community members so they can also participate in the survey,” Kuehn explained. “We want to get as much stakeholder input about the qualifications our stakeholders are looking for in our next superintendent. It’s part of our process of gathering data for our school board to help them with making decisions on the profile of what the district’s looking for in the next superintendent and maybe help guide them with some of their interview questions.”
The final item the board discussed was when Warne requested for the board to create some potential questions or areas to include in the interviews to learn the applicants’ strengths and specialties for certain projects like referendums. Warne said he would make two sample questions for the board based on facilities and student achievement and send them for them to consider asking the candidates. Warren said he would have some questions and the vacancy brochure ready for the board to review and prepared for the candidates by January 22.
The next School Board meeting will take place on Monday, January 23, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. inside the Crookston High School Choir/Orchestra room.
