NRHEG School Board
By REED WALLER
Staff Writer
At the January 19 regular meeting of the NRHEG Board of Education, board members new and old once again faced the task of searching for a new Superintendent, after the delivery of Dale Carlson’s resignation effective June 30.
There is a printable summary of the Superintendent Search process and a Survey community members can fill out to help with the process. Go to the NRHEG website (https://www.nrheg.mn.us) and search for “Superintendent Search.”
Board Chair Rick Schultz announced he had contacted two agencies for the job: the Minnesota School Board Association’s Executive Search services, and the South Central Service Cooperative’s Search Program.
Some of the current school board members are familiar with this process, as are many community members, since, beginning with the departure of NRHEG’s founding Superintendent Richard Lorenz in December 2006, the district has searched for and hired three superintendents through this process: Kevin Wellen, who began as Interim Superintendent in 2006 and stayed for two three-year terms; Dennis Goodwin, who served two years from 2013 through 2015; and most recently Dale Carlson.
Candidate interviews should be conducted in April and a candidate needs to be chosen by July 1.
MSBA
Supt. Carlson introduced Barb Dorn (telepresent) of the Minnesota School Board Association’s Executive Search services, who elaborated on a workshop that is available.
PLANNING: An Initial Planning Meeting is necessary, in which the board determines the hiring criteria. There should also be an online survey, followed by community and staff listening sessions, online and facilitated, and question and answer sessions.
Superintendent searches, said Dorn, usually take about three to six months, with the stiff competition and the screening of candidates, and finding a candidate who fits the district’s particular needs, not to mention the difficulties of the current situation.
The district has to know and keep in mind the things that are characteristic of their district.
“You, as the board, are the sole hiring authority,” said Dorn, “so stakeholder input is very important.”
ADVERTISING AND RECRUITMENT: The MSBA will work with the board to develop a brochure advertising the position, and the announcement will be posted on the MSBA website and newsletter, as well as other interested parties.
Additionally the MSBA will contact National Affiliation of Superintendent Searchers to contact candidates from out of state, and will directly contact Superintendents and other administrators throughout the state.
The search team will screen respondents and develop a pool of recommended applicants for the board’s consideration.
INTERVIEWS: “You really need to prepare for these interviews,” said Born. The MSBA recommends that only the School Board members be involved in these interviews. The Search Team will help develop interview questions, and will be present at the first and second round of interviews.
FOLLOW-UP: The Search Team will draft announcements for the media, facilitate a post-hiring workshop, visit the new Superintendent, and be available during the transition.
COST: The cost for the Superintendent Search process will not exceed $7,800. If the search concludes successfully within 6 months, the $975 workshop fee will be deducted from the total.
CHEAPER OPTIONS: Born also offered a limited search (without facilitation) for $4,500 and a bare-bones search (without facilitation, survey, interview, reference check, or follow-up) for $2,500.
RICK SCHULTZ: “What are you seeing for candidates pool? Can you give us an idea of what we can expect for candidates for NRHEG?”
BORN: “Generally we are seeing fewer applicants, but not dramatically. But you only need one good one.”
SCSC
Ed Waltman of South Central Service Cooperative, and a former Superintendent in Mankato, presented their proposal. Also present was Harold Remme, a former Superintendent in New Ulm.
WALTMAN: “We serve 50 area public schools in over 40 counties. Both Harold and I have over 40 years of experience. We are both active members of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators. We attend both lstatee and area superintendent meetings and both serve on the Foundation Board of Directors. This work allows us connect with many ponatential candidatess. Our work with the SCSC allows us to check references of candidates from around the entire state.
“I think our service probably involves more people than any other search team you might have. Access to the entire SCSC staff and legal advice is another asset.
“Mentoring is also important. We mentor everyone, so that they can be successful in their school district.
“There is no cost for our service. This is a membership benefit. Our officers have served as school board members like yourselves. All we charge you is about $100 for the binders that we use.
“Last year we did four searches, in Waseca, Jordan, Nicollet. We only conduct searches for SCSC member school districts. We’re doing Lake Crystal-Welcome-Memorial right now, it’s about wrapped up. Le Sueur-Henderson should be done in a couple weeks, and we’ve just started Martin County West.”
TIMELINE: Jan-Feb: Board planning, engaging community/ staff/students through online survey and Zoom meetings, creating a superintendent profile. Jan-Feb: Advertise, recruit, screen candidates and accept applications. March 1-5: Complete first round of interviews. March 8-12: Final interviews and Board offer. March 15: Approve new superintendent contract.
WALTMAN: “That’s our schedule. We need to get out there. The candidate pool for superintendents has been declining for years because of COVID and many administrators can go to larger schools and make as much money as principals.
“The first round of interviews, we appoint the candidates for interview, but you approve them. We suggest you have 4-6 candidates. We also suggest that board members come in and look at the papers of the candidates who have applied. Now superintendent candidates information is private information, which makes it hard for school boards to do this by themselves.
“I recommend that we get going as soon as possible, because in two or three more weeks many of the candidates will be gone.”
HAROLD REMME: “I have a question for the board. Do you intend to have your interviews in person, or do you want to do them virtually?”
RICK SCHULTZ: “We are still in a pandemic. But the small number of people involved, there is a lot of value in in-person. Do you have a recommendation?”
WALTMAN: “We’ve had an in-person for the final interview, have one person come in each day. So one virtually, and the other on-nsite. I think we’ll have to be flexible and see what the conditions are.”
REMME: “It’s a couple weeks down the road. There may be a change in how COVID is going. But I’m glad you brought that up. We have candidates who want to know, and ask that question.”
The presentation ended and the presenters logged off.
TERRI ENGEL (to Schultz): “Who has been through this before? Just you and JoAnn?”
SCHULTZ: “Travis has been involved.”
TRAVIS: “I think that was the MSBA.”
CARLSON: “SCSC worked with us developing the Strategic Plan.”
SCHULTZ: “You’ve all heard the tone of this here, sooner rather than later. I don’t want anyone to feel rushed here. I think Mr. Waltman said it best; whoever can do the best job for us is the one to go with.”
ENGEL: “The only real difference I could tell was, the advertising, it seemed like the MSBA have a lot more places. But I don’t know.”
SCHULTZ: “I don’t know how much more that really means. I mean, if we go with the SCSC, the position will still be advertised on the MSBA’s site.”
At the January 21 special meeting, the board decided to go ahead with South Central Service Cooperative.