Good evening everyone. I'll call this meeting to order and welcome those joining us um in person and online. Thank you for being here. The purpose of tonight's meeting is to discuss planning for the superintendent search process. This will include discussion regarding options, process steps, community
engagement considerations, and a potential timeline for selection of the district's next superintendent. Tonight's discussion will be facilitated by Barb Dorne from the Minnesota School Boards Association. Um, and at this time, I will turn it over to Barb uh
from MSBA to guide the board through the superintendent search planning discussion. Thank you, Barb. >> Yeah, thank you very much. And thank you. First and foremost, I appreciate the opportunity for MSBA to work with you in finding the next leader for Prior Lake Savage Area Schools. Very excited
to assist you in all the specifics that we need things off. Thank you. Do I need to repeat all of that? I didn't say it very loudly. >> Maybe maybe if you would be so kind just so that the button so it's recorded. So >> what I said was and I apologize for
that. Um Barb Dorne with MSBA and I thanked the board initially for uh honoring us with the opportunity to assist the board in finding the next superintendent for Prior Lake Savage Area Schools. We have about maybe an hour's worth of things, but I will stay as long as needed to make sure that I answer every single question that you
may have as a board or as individuals about the steps that need to occur over the next month or so to find your next leader. So, the first thing that would be helpful for me, if the board is willing, is to do uh some short introductions. if you could share um your name and how long you have served
on this school board, that would be very helpful. Personally, I've been now with MSBA for about seven years and I work exclusively in superintendent search and superintendent evaluation. So, I'll turn it over to whichever end of the table you'd like to start with. >> Start. You going to start? >> Yeah, happy to start. >> Very good.
>> Um, welcome. Um, I'm Lisa Atinson. Um, I was elected in 2022 and I've lived in the community since 2011 and had had kids in our district um for the entire time that I've been on the board. So, thank you. >> Uh Charles Johnson and uh this is year
two >> Jessica Mason also year two. >> Amy Bullian and this is my fourth year serving on the board. >> Mary France and this is 10 and a half years.
>> Thank you. Dustin Smith and I've served six months something or other give or take. >> Great. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. I always ask that question because it's helpful to know uh the experience on the board and the lens through which
you are using. So with the length of service on here, I'm guessing that there has been one board member through a superintendent search before. Correct. >> And I sat on the committees for the other ones. >> Okay. Anyone else on the board been through a superintendent search? >> Okay, great. Also, when looking at the um the breadth of experience on the
board, I think this bodess really well for your search because you have uh experience on the board, long-term institutional knowledge, and you have really fresh eyes as well. And I think that diversity of thought is a very good thing for a search process. So, thank you for indulging me with that. I
appreciate it. You have an agenda in front of you and we're going to follow that. But along the way, if you have questions on anything that I might say, please interrupt me. I'd really like to keep the planning meeting um as informal as we can just to ensure again that you have what you need to make the best
decisions for your district. I'd like to review the process first and it's not going to be a very long overview. There's just a couple of things that are key that I'd like to ground us in before we begin. Uh the first is the role of Minnesota state statute in the superintendent search. There are two
statutes that will apply to this process. The open meeting law and the government data practices act. So, we often get asked, are all of the meetings done in the public for the superintendent search process? And the answer is yes. The only time that state law allows you to close a meeting for
the purposes of superintendent at all would be the evaluation itself. Evaluations, you can close a board meeting. For the superintendent search, this will all be done in the public, including the discussion of private data, which is where the government data practices act comes into play. The names
of every single applicant for this position are private data. So, you will have access to all of those applications. You will also be discussing those applications in an open meeting. And that's where it gets a little bit dicey because you cannot violate data privacy laws by discussing
people in a identifiable way at all. So, we'll be talking about candidate A, B, and C that night, uh, without references to where they've worked, where they are working, even gender references. Anything that might help people figure out who you're talking about is to be avoided. But those are the two statutes
really that come into play from beginning to end of the process. So, are there any questions on state statute? Okay, sounds good. The other thing I'd like to mention in terms of the process is this is your search. This is not MSBA's search. It is the school boards.
You are seeking your next leader. You have a lot of options in front of you. Our role is to support you in that work. Provide you with information, options, always options. Sometimes we'll make recommendations and yet ultimately this is something that you are going to decide and own every decision along the
way. But I want to remain available to you as well along the way. So I want you all to have my phone number and my email address seven days a week during search season. If something occurs to you that you have a question about, please reach out. We want to make sure you're comfortable with that. So, I'm looking
forward to supporting you in your search uh for the next superintendent. The next thing I'd like to talk about is timeline. And so, if you go to the first page then after the agenda, the timeline in your case, we talked a little bit about this with your options. Was it just last week that we met? Just last
week. Wow. Okay. So, last week we talked about this. Uh we are going to look at approximately a four-week timeline. However, if you want to go longer, we certainly can. I provided some dates in yellow as starter points, but again, I know you brought your uh calendars with you. There are going to be the need for
two more meetings and one of those meetings will be the interview training. Um there are some things you need to keep in mind during interviewing these candidates in a public meeting. Uh you're an equal employment opportunity employer, so you have to abide by those things. There are certain questions you can and cannot ask certain formats that
work for interviews. So the interview training will take a while and that same night we've combined those meetings into one. You will select your finalists. That means those names go public because the names of the applicants are private data. However, anyone who is selected to
be interviewed by the school board for a position is considered a finalist. That name will go public. So anyone you interview whether it's one person or five people that name or those names and those names alone go public and we'll do it on that same evening. And then the
only other date we're looking at for uh the board to meet would be interviews. And so we'll talk about some of those options. Would it be helpful if I walk through the timeline and tell you what each of these things is first and then we'll circle back and have you look at your calendars? Just a quick overview of what this is.
>> However you want to >> Okay. >> Go forward. then I will do that. >> Um, one question I have is how would you like these meetings characterized? Because I heard study session is typically what you might call special meetings or something. Um, these are not regular meetings because the
superintendent search you're having a special meeting. Would you like them referred to as study sessions? Board study sessions. >> Special meetings. >> Special meetings. >> I would say special meetings. >> Special meetings. >> Great. >> Okay. So, I'm going to remove study
session here from all of these and call them um special meetings. So, thank you for that. >> Tonight, obviously, is the planning meeting. Here we are at six o'clock on May 11th. Uh we are planning to post this position tomorrow. So, it will be available. I've gotten calls about it. People are interested and so they know
that there'll be more information coming out tomorrow with the application link. It will be all done online, things like that. We're suggesting at this point it remains open for a week till May 19th. Um, I will host a session this Wednesday, uh, the 13th at four o'clock. That is not a board meeting. The Q&A
session, I think we talked about, it's a chance, uh, for people to ask me questions during the live session. Um, I want to make sure that your your community understands what's happening and when and why. So, I'll go over things like the timeline, like the position posting, um, answer some FAQs about the search process, but we record
that because very, very often people aren't available at four o'clock on a weekday. So, we record it. We'll send it to your communications team. and they'll put it on the district website. I know they're hard at work creating a superintendent search landing page already. So, that Q&A is not a board meeting. And in fact, I'd probably
prefer that board members not attend that live session. Sometimes your um presence on the call can intimidate folks from asking questions. They'll be typing them in a chat box, so it's anonymous anyway, but sometimes you know by who's on what they're asking. So, I'd prefer you not come to the session live.
Okay? So, I'll do that on the 13th. Uh the deadline though, if it's the 19th, we go through all of them on the 20th. We will give you access to them on the 21st. They will be up in the cloud. You'll have an electronic way to access the folder. It's private data. So, we ask you to be very, very careful
reviewing that information. Don't look at it in a coffee shop. Anyone walks behind you, sees a resume, just broke data privacy laws. Uh even be careful at home at your own kitchen table if your family's walking around. Private data. So, you'll have access to those beginning on the 21st. The TBD means
you'll have access from the 21st until the night you name the finalists, and you'll still have access after that. But I was looking at potentially between the 26th and the 2nd of June. This meeting might be two hours, maybe two and a half depending how many
questions you have. Also, how much conversation there is around the finalists that you're considering. This is the meeting where you're talking about candidates A, B, and C. So that's just a potential longer meeting and we are combining two of them into one. The interview training I will also bring proposed questions for you to look at.
Those will be based on your leadership profile. You'll select those questions at that meeting as well. And then again determining your finalist. So we'll come back to the dates, but this is one that's a little longer. Then we're suggesting the interviews occur anywhere from June 1st to the 4th. If it depends
how many applicants you want to interview. You might have one that you want to interview. Again, you might have five or six. It also depends on which position they're interested in. And when we get to the position posting, I have questions for the board about that because you have you want wanted to keep your options open. It sounded like that
does complicate matters as far as the candidates are concerned. So I'll talk you through that as well. These are usually a one-hour interview. Could do an hour and a half. You could ask for a presentation as a part of the interview process. Um all of those things kind of depend. Do you start early in the day?
Do you start at 3 or 4? Do you want to do it over the course co course of two evenings? Maybe if you have five or six people, do two or three one night, two or three the next night. Kind of depends on the availability with you during the day. If you end up interviewing five people and you start at six o'clock,
you're going to want to do it over two days because that's too late. You'll be going into the early mornings for sure. >> So, those are the interviews. It is again one round of interviews with the abbreviated search. Uh not two rounds. So, one round of interviews. >> Yes. Can I ask a question?
>> Please do. Um so when you said uh for the candidate interviews you said one to one and a half hours. Um is that per interview is what you is typical? Okay. Yes. Just wanted to clarify that for my own. >> Yes. And if you are doing the one round
of interviews, you could also consider offering district tours that day. >> I know candidates really like to see the buildings, meet some administrators and things like that. Um is and that would be limited to the number of candidates we have obviously right you're only going to do that
finalist okay and then okay and that timing okay thank you >> okay all right I put June to be determined so I wanted to talk for a moment just about the employment contract and how you envision that unfolding uh typically
as soon as you have a loan finalist you want to work with you'd like to get them a contract that evening or the next day for them to rece respond to. There's some back and forth with the contract being negotiated. And so I was just wondering how you might plan to do that.
Uh typically it is done uh with a representative from the board perhaps working in concert with your legal counsel andor someone in HR um andor a subcommittee of the board if it's a personnel committee or something like that. Ideally between now and June you
will come together as a board and have a contract prepared. So, do you have a personnel committee or how would the contract for the superintendent be processed? I know you have one with Dr. Thomas right now. We have a contract that MASA and MSBA together developed. That's our model superintendent
contract. We have a model superintendent contract uh for interims as well. So, I can send that to whoever might be negotiating, but I just want to know how many people will be involved and who it will be. Director Kern is here. He's our director of of human human services. Is
that >> administrative services? administrative. Yeah, thank you. Administrative services. And so, um I think he would be the point person to as far as district leadership to um discuss that with
would there be someone in the board working in partnership with him because this is your contract. So, we want to make sure that you are involved in anything and I don't want him necessarily negotiating on behalf of the board or the board either >> because it would be his boss, right? So, we don't want to saddle him with some
uncomfortable duties. >> Barb, I'd like to make a recommendation to have our executive committee, our executive team work with Rob on that. That way, there's a it's three members. It's our chair, vice chair, and our treasurer. And that way, um, there's a small majority of the board working on
the contract with our HR director. Barb, given the fact that I've never walked through this and even just my um sharing director Kthorne and then sharing what you shared. I mean, can you walk us through I appreciate that
recommendation, Director Atinson, and I can you walk us through how is that typical that maybe the executive committee of the board would work with the um director of the of you know, tell me how what is typical in that?
>> I'm going to quote Terry Marl, which he often says, it depends. Have you ever heard Terry say? >> I've heard him say that. >> Okay. Yes. >> Um every district is different. Yeah, it is. because it's just so situational and every district has different protocols in place. >> Um if there were a typical way, I would
say that um an executive committee such as this >> meets ahead of time with uh director of administrative services to negotiate or figure out the template that you're going to run with because things have been updated. You know, contracts are different now than they were last year and the year before because of all the
legislative changes. So I would suggest within the next two weeks perhaps the executive committee meets with your director to come up with the template and maybe even some parameters for starting points because your starting salary will depend upon how much
experience they have. For example, they may or may not want certain benefits. There may be some that you aren't required to provide but they're interested in. And so all of those are negotiable, but having a starting point >> and a contract kind of hot off the press that you can send to the successful candidate, if you have one that you
choose, right away the next day, and let them look at it and respond. From that point on, it depends how available the members of the exec committee are because you don't want to doawle and lose time trying to coordinate three people to meet with the candidate and
include your director. you might lose a lot of days and I think you're going to want to move more quickly than that if you can that first week of June or second week of June uh because hopefully they'll start July 1 and so sometimes one person from the board is the point person so it's between that candidate
and one board member and probably copying this person but I wouldn't again want to put him in a position to negotiate on your behalf the board is the one that should be doing the yes no maybe more less and that sort of thing and sometimes it's pretty simple Sometimes candidates look at it and say,
"This is great. Can I change this one thing?" And it's like, "That was simple." It it is not often a complex, laborious process. It can be pretty simple, especially if you have your ducks in a row with a contract ready to go as soon as you're done with your interviews. >> I I just instead of making a decision
right now, the decision usually resides with the chair. uh and then you make a decision as soon as possible with with what you want to do either yourself or someone you designate or the executive committee. I think that I think it resides with you.
>> I think that um as far as I'm concerned I I am open to uh having um I think it's helpful to have more more people in this especially because I've never walked walked it. Um, and so, uh, we can set up
a meeting. We can set up that meeting so that it's already scheduled. So, >> yep. We get ahead of it. >> Yeah, >> I'm I'm willing to do that. I think it's great. I can't speak for Director Olstead, but I think >> I think >> so. The committee will get together in
the next two weeks to come up with a starting point of a contract. Am I hearing that? >> I think we can even kind of set a tenative date tonight. >> Yep. Okay, that's great. And then if you have a successful loan finalist, who will be the one to send them the
contract that night or the next morning that says, "Hey, start here and get back to me." >> Chair, I I can do that. >> So, I'm going to remove the word committee from the timeline and it will say board designign begins negotiations. Is that okay? Okay. Board designate begins negotiations and I'm going to
remove the time to be determined because you're not setting a committee meeting to negotiate with that person. It does go much more quickly with one person, but just to make sure everyone's aware that the chair does not have the authority to approve anything. >> Whatever you land on, it comes back to the whole board and you all, a majority
at least, have to approve a contract. >> Okay. >> And director Kern, would you be contacting legal counsel for the district who normally also is very involved in this process once it comes to that point? Y >> and of course the um and of course the
interim candidate or will also have their own council looking at it so they can work lawyer to lawyer. >> In the meantime, would it be helpful if I send MSBA's model superintendent contract to whom? The whole board.
>> I think the whole board. >> And yeah, >> director, you would like to copy that? Okay. >> I will send the model contract to all eight of you. >> Yes. >> Okay. Got it. Thank you. All right. So then you would be hopefully approving an employment contract sometime in June. Do
you want to set a target date for that such as a regular meeting or do you want to wait and see how negotiations unfold and call a special meeting? You just need three days notice but sometimes it helps to have we hope to approve the contract on this date. >> I think having I think it is helpful to
have a a a goal date. I think that just brings clarity to people. Um, so >> is the June 8th, we have a meeting scheduled June 8th. Can we do it as part of that agenda or it needs to be separate? >> Aggressive. >> Oh yeah, maybe.
>> Well, it depends when you interview. If you interview on June 1st, I think a week might be enough, but if you interview on the 4th or even the next week, then it wouldn't be enough. >> Yeah, that's and if we have more than one candidate at the end, too. So, um, I we can make
an aggressive date of June 8th, but then we need to make it open. I don't want to get the community >> excited and then have to keep changing dates on them either. I'd rather move it up than move it back, but that's just me. >> Yeah. Um, we have a placeholder for June
15th as a retreat date, and we >> I I feel like that would probably be a better date to have as a goal. um since that is a placeholder and it would just be for that purpose alone. >> Sounds good. >> Okay.
So, what was that date again? >> June 15th. Monday, June 15th. >> June 15th. And that is a regular meeting, study session or special meeting. >> So, it we have a placeholder for a board retreat. So, we and that has we are
going to designate it for this purpose. >> Okay. >> Does that sound right, board? >> Okay. And do you know what time that is? >> 6 p.m. >> 6 PM. >> And what would you like me to call it? Board retreat or special meeting? >> I would say special meeting. We'll keep it that all the same.
>> Got it. All right. Great. And then potentially July 1st, 2026, your new superintendent would start. Are there any questions on the steps? Okay, great. So, let's talk dates. Go ahead. >> Clarifi clarifying thing. So,
sorry. the May 13th um that is approaching quickly. How would anyone find that and where to access it? >> Great question. >> Thank you for asking.
>> I don't think that you mentioned >> Yep. I before we do that, I just have a quick clarifying question too because we're going back into the meat of some of the stuff. June 15th was the um was the right before the July 1st date. The
June TBD 2026 was the board committee begins negotiations of employment contract. We're we're talking this June 15th, the second from the last. I just want to clarify that because I had Okay, >> the third date from the bottom is going to be the day after your interviews, right? >> And since I don't quite know when your
interviews are yet, I'll fill that in. It'll be the day after. As for the 13th, um I have this great handydandy communications blurb that I've already given to you communications team and we have a Zoom link for Wednesday. So, I'm going to forward this to her tonight along with a Zoom link. She's building a superintendent search landing page, I
believe, as well where all of that information will be. And I'm not sure if you communicate with an email blast as well, just to get the word out. That'd be great. Thank you for clarifying this for us, too. Uh yes, we'll do an email blast um to
parents, to staff. Um we can do a social media post. We can do a page pop on our website. So when people people go to our website, they'll see it first thing and don't have to like dig around for it. So I'll be working with Liz on that to get the work word out really quickly tomorrow. >> Thank you.
>> Right. Any other questions? Thank you for these as well. All right. So let's look at some dates. Uh if we are okay with um the application deadline of the 19th and you starting to look at them on the 21st, does anyone have a preference for the meeting which might be about a 2-hour
meeting or potentially a little more? I was looking between the 26th of May and 2nd of June earlier that week 26th or 27th. >> So the 25th is Memorial Day, right? Um I would say the 26th if everyone can
swing it. Earlier the better. Board members. Um is there any thoughts regarding So when I'm when I was looking at this um
earlier the options you're looking for you suggested like May 26 through June 1st or 2nd. June 1st is a Monday. um for consistency
and you know just meeting cadence. Does June 1st on a Monday at 6 p.m. What does that feel like to to the board? >> That works. But I was thinking the second because we have to fit two in, right? So that might be the second one >> the line below.
>> So that's a candidate interview. So >> the week before too that we can get them both in. And my biggest concern was that if anybody was out of town for Memorial Weekend or anything like that, if there was any conflicts there, >> I'm I'm fine. 26 or 27 is fine. >> Yeah.
>> Okay. All right. So, um is there a do we have con do we have a preference for the Tuesday or the Wednesday? >> Monday or the Tuesday? Yeah, the Tuesday or the Wednesday. Either one is fine. >> I agree. >> Okay. The 26th.
>> I'll make either work. make either work and either work for me. So hearing Tuesday being uh suggested more than the Wednesday should we agree on we'll agree on Tuesday. Um and that is May 26th
>> and we're doing training with that as well. Correct. >> Correct. Yes. So that one will include the interview training and then determining finalists. Am I correct? Okay. Just let can I ask a question of procedural
procedural question? Um is do we like are you able to determine like an hour for training and then because I think you know obviously this is important to our community but um like is it is it just all one sum of of a meeting or is
it broken up so that we can see like seven o'clock there'll be this part or you know what I mean like go ahead. >> It's tough to say. Sometimes interview training takes half an hour and sometimes it takes an hour and a half. >> Okay. >> So, it depends on the questions. So, it's going to be very hard to break it out and say come here then or come in
here at then. Just we'll start at am I assuming six o'clock on the 26 again. >> Okay. No, that's fine. I've watched some other searches. So, thank you. Mhm. Uh so uh May 26th 6 p.m. because that is early on in the week on a Tuesday. Theoretically you
could do your interviews on Thursday or Friday that same week instead of going into June 1st on the Monday. >> I think that's kind of the plan if it if it works with people scheduled that way we can get ahead of this curve. >> Um we have Bridg's graduation on the
28th so that was something that we would just to note. >> Oh that's right. Thank you for that. >> Yes, thank you for that. >> Should have known that. Um, >> and I'm sorry. Is the Are we thinking interviews? Possibly. Depending on how
many candidates we're looking at, it could be either one night or two nights if we have um depending on the amount of candidates. So, if we were looking at um doing a placeholder
or a planning for Friday the 29th to be since we're doing the 26th for our interview training um going right away into the Friday. How does that sound for people >> on 29th? >> Yeah. It's not great for
>> not great. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Okay. Doesn't work. So then uh then we'd be looking into um that June 1, two, three or four. >> And four is graduation. >> Graduation. >> And fourth is graduation. Yes, you're right. >> Yes. So we won't we won't interview on
graduation night. >> That would be good. >> So um do we have any uh any dates of the one, two, or three that do not work for any board members? >> I can make any work. I thought that since June 1st was a Monday, you had
mentioned that you'd want to keep it consistent for the >> I like the fact of doing consistency for meetings. I think that helps all of us and this is uh this is special circumstances. So I think that we're all trying to just do I I would be for
>> plan for the first and second >> I think so placeholders for both >> the second depending on >> I think that's I think if we block off uh the June 1st and June 2nd at 6 p.m. >> I can make that work
>> first is primary second is the alternative. >> Yep. Great. Thank you. That sounds good. And then if you have six people, which would be a lot um this late in the year, but if you had six, you could do three one night and three the next night. Would you be starting at 6:00 because it'll still go a little late if you're
doing 1 hour interviews and 15-minute breaks. Do you want to start at five or could you start or if not last time we did them all at once because um there was concern that other candidates could listen too much to the other candidates and we would have some sort of bias
situation going on. We wanted to avoid that. So, but we also started those meetings at four and and when we also interviewed previous to that, we had four finalists and two final final ones and those meetings also started at 4.
>> Board members, um is there a possibility for an earlier start time than six o'clock for for you and your schedules? I know me personally, um any earlier than five o'clock won't work. It would I I would have to move a lot of things.
So, I am open to a 5:00 pm start. Um, does that Could we placehold both of June 1st and June 2nd at 5:00 p.m.? >> Yeah, I I like that because then I think people coming home from work come to the meeting and Yeah, it adds some because these meeting this is this meeting
livereamed? >> Yep. >> Or not because of the because it's they don't want to watch each other's interviews, right? >> You've watched our meetings you said. >> I do. I've watched a lot of your searches actually which is why I'm impressed. >> It will be your choice. We will recommend you not live stream interviews. It get a significant advantage to the people later in the day
or the next day. However, you certainly can record them. Yeah. >> What we've seen a lot of districts choosing to do this year is to if there's five. You record all five >> and you perhaps >> well in this case you have one round of interviews, you put up the one person and that person's interview stays up indefinitely. >> Yeah, I think that's
>> you don't put all five up. You just put up the successful person. So that's something people have done because you're not trying to hide anything from anybody. >> You you obviously have the doors open. anyone and everyone can come watch these interviews. We just want to be really careful that it's a level playing field for every candidate. >> Otherwise, boy, it gets very skewed if
they watch. >> That's why we did them one night and also because the doors were open and and we did know that other candidates could go in there or their representatives by the way could go in there and listen to them. So, yeah. >> Bet. All right. Well, thank you. So, what that means then I'm going to read what I'm going to have. Is that okay?
So, the only changes I've made, they are all called special meetings. >> And then, uh, the May 20th, we'll start looking at them. It'll say May 20th to the 26th. You will have them May 21st to the 26th because on the 26th, you'll meet for interview training at 6:00 p.m.
And you will also determine finalists. I will be sending to you a day or two before that um, date though, May 26th, who we will be recommending to you as your finalist. So you will have a day or two to look at that and then you can call me individually if you have questions about why or why not the
candidates. So you'll have the list before the 26th of who MSBA is suggesting to you. You can ignore our recommendations if you want to and interview whoever you choose, but you'll have those at least I would hope by the 24th that'll give us uh four days to do our own vetting and send you our
recommendations. So May 26 at 6 p.m. for that meeting and then uh candidate interviews on June 1st and 2nd 5:00 p.m. And we're holding both those nights as a placeholder. You may only need one night, but for now we've got both of those reserved, which is great. Which
then means I'm going to put June 3rd would be the board design begins negotiations. And then June 15th at 6 PM at a special meeting, you will approve an employment contract. Does that sound what your notes say? Sounds correct. >> That follows what I have. All of you.
>> Okay, great. Thank you. That's usually the most challenging part of the meeting is your calendars are so full that this is tough. So, you really went through that. Great job, everybody. Thank you. >> I'd like to move on to the position posting next. And this is the one pager right here.
>> Um, a couple of things first. Bless you. >> Uh, the second page has the green highlights of that individual hiring criteria survey. Again, thank you. every single board member filled this out before the deadline. So, we really appreciated that. It gave us a chance to build a leadership profile over the weekend. Um, so I am going to get to
that in just a moment because I want to make sure you're comfortable with that. I I wrestled a little bit with how to advertise this because you want to keep your options open is what I heard. So, my first question is, and this isn't necessarily how we have to leave it, but I've had enough questions to know that
candidates are wondering, are they looking for this? Are they looking for this with the possibility of this? Are they looking for this? And so, do you as a board have a preference for any of those three options? Because maybe that's the only one we advertise and we see who else applies. So, I'm going to
just turn it back over to the chair to ask, is there a preference for any of the three options or do you want all three listed or are you going to >> solicit um applications for all three of those options? >> Well, and and if I may, I will start with what I am recalling from our past
conversations. Um there was a in in all of our conversations with with you giving us, you know, a lot of direction the last two Mondays, I think um there's been a desire um for uh having someone
that is interested in more than just an interim position. I think that we've probably all had multiple conversations um not just at the board table but with other people um other people gathering information on what might be best for
this search. And I think that there's argument to any of them. You know, there there is um there is argument to why an interim might be the best case scenario. there's argument to why someone looking
for something longer term would be a a really good fit for us as well. So, coming to consensus on how you know what we're looking at as far as how to um
post this. I think if we can, you know, kind of like we've done in the past, go board member to board member, share some thoughts, that might be helpful um for us. in in this space. Um, and I think uh Barb, if I'm if you if there's anything
you want to interject, you shared why the challenge of, you know, kind of posting these three different things. If you were to sum that up as we, you know, take it from board member to board member, kind of why the challenge and
what that poses for the people that, you know, are may have interest um in this position. Okay, you are correct. There's lots of reasons that any one of these could be the right choice for your school district. So for us, when we're speaking of um
professional courtesy to the candidates, we want to make sure they understand the implications of which of these three or one of these that they are interested in. For example, an interim superintendent with a one-year contract only. Very often that is someone who is a former superintendent, retired
superintendent. They probably don't have at the ready a resume. They haven't needed a resume in who knows 10, 15 years. So, we don't want to force folks interested in that to jump through a lot of hoops because they just won't. And so, then you will not have the
opportunity to talk to those folks because they don't have application materials ready to go. The other two are actually quite similar. An interim superintendent interested in becoming the superintendent the following year, and we consider that sort of the audition year. You actually would need
to make a decision within six months of them being your superintendent, your interim superintendent. Because if it's great, offer them a contract, skip a search, save the time, save the money, and they just have another contract effective in July one of the next year. That can be unappealing to candidates
because it's a risk. It's a one-year contract. And if they are uh a sitting administrator or a sitting superintendent in another district, they will be hesitant to leave a job they currently have for a risk of a one-year contract, even if they think that they are the right person and would prove to
you that they are the right person to stay on for another three years. It is a risk for candidates, especially this time of year, to leave a district to come in for a one-year gig is kind of a a rarity, but they may be willing to do that. Um, the other thing with an
interim superintendent who's interested in becoming the superintendent, if you feel like, yes, they're good, but we want to see who else is out there. I think I've mentioned previously, the pool will be pretty small. When you have an interim superintendent that if they're making it known that they want the job, fewer people will take the risk
of their name going public in a search process. So, your pool is not going to be particularly strong. Usually, you never know. It it could. Um, and then a superintendent with an immediate three-year contract, uh, that's attractive to people and they're willing to take a risk to come here and sort of,
um, audition immediately and get a three-year contract because there's more security in that. Um, with them, however, the risk also is their name going public if they're interested in the competitive interview. If you're interested in a competitive interview process, there will be people that will
be happy to interview potentially if they're the only candidate you're interviewing because they're that good. Then they're like, you know what? If I'm going to be the one they interview, I'm confident I can get this job. If they're going to interview two, three, four other people, I'm not going to risk it because I'm just not going to put myself
in that position. So, there's pros and cons to all of these. Also, the second one, I should have mentioned an interim superintendent. That can work really well if there's an internal person with a superintendent license because if it's not working out or they choose they like, you know what, this isn't what I thought it would be. I really want to go back to my job. They have continuing
contract rights. So, you have more flexibility with an interim superintendent who's an internal. There's no risks to them as opposed to an external person coming in with a one-year contract. They still have continuing contract rights. So, pros and cons of each of these. Now, I will let
you know that we have devised a way that the application could suit either of these if you're interested. So, the interim superintendent with a one-year contract, for example, we've created the application process that says, you know, name, position, phone number, past
position, which are you interested in? An interim superintendent with a one-year contract only or one of the next two? And it's and or because if they click on the first one, it takes them to an application that's pretty simple. It asks them, do you have a
current license? Uh why do you want this position? You know, we're not asking them to upload resumes, but we are asking for um a reference and why do you want this position? But it's a very simple application for the other two opportunities. If they check, I'm interested in the superintendency, whether it's interim to super or if it's
super, that takes them to a deeper application that asks for um three references, three letters of recommendation. It asks for why are you interested in the superintendent position. Um there's more there's more legal ease because it is a longer term
commitment for you and for them. And so the the second and third bullet points would be that branch of the application. So, you still have access to all of them no matter which of those options someone clicks. The other question that I think we're going to ask that I think is important for their sake is to say, are
you willing to participate in a competitive interview process against other applicants? >> Yes, no, or maybe. >> Okay? >> Because if they say no, that means they are being very cautious in their name going public. They want to be the one you interview. If they say yes, they
might be up against two or three other people or more, but they know their name would go public. If they say maybe, then it's open to conversations probably with me as a search firm saying, "Well, when would you say yes and when would you say no?" So, I think there's we've built a lot of
flexibility. So, we've never done it this way. So, I thank you for the chance to learn something here. We've never had such a complicated application process, >> but we can do it. It's We're learning. We're learning. Um, we can certainly do it. I just wanted to put some control in
the hands of the candidates >> so that they weren't indiscriminately being asked to apply for something, but they're not quite sure what and they don't know if their name's going to go public or not. So, we're trying to be respectful of their careers as well. >> That's what I got. >> Thank you so much for recapping all of that for all of us. I think it's it's
just very helpful. Um and uh so and also thank you for um hearing what we kind of all of the thought processes of the board members the kind of what we're thinking and and making the changes to
the application process. Um being willing to do that I think that's really helpful. Now, please um you know, I'm going to I'm going to share some thoughts uh probably verbal processing for the first time through this, but
what I'm wondering I I heard you asking for some direction on one of these or these options, one of these three options, getting some board direction on that. But what I'm I'm curious is given
the fact that you have um been able to modify the application process with those questions um uh if given that you're able to do that, can
we just um do you still need I guess my question is do you still need the board direction on these or can the applicants Can we see what comes in and what applicants mark? Because
um so that's my question for you Barb is are we able instead of getting board direction on do we want an interim with a one-year you know if getting more consensus around this if we could just open up the application process tomorrow
with those questions and see what comes in to see where we're at. That's that's my wondering. Yes. Yes. Okay. So, that that was my wondering and I'll maybe we'll can start with you uh Lisa if you
want to share any thoughts and we'll just kind of go like we have in the past meetings and uh we'll gather gather board member feedback. >> Sure. Thank you. Um I think first of all, thank you for coming up with a creative solution. Um yeah, I understand how challenging that can be. I think
given the fact that we're we're really the goal is to find the best candidate for or the best person for the position. Um, I like the flexibility in it. Um, and so I would I would I would go with your recommendation of how you develop the application process and especially
since we're so late in the process. I think finding the best candidate. We don't know, like I said, how um what their interest is going to be as far as a contract goes. So, thank you. >> I'm good with uh the new way that you came up with. Rock solid.
>> I agree. Um, so I, um, understanding the difficulties of people when they're trying to make a search, um, I am still with the interim one-year contract only. Um, because that
buys us the time and if somebody were in the other two areas, they'd be interested in full-time and they would come back anyways. Um I think that the my my concern with doing all three is the interview questions
and um also the uh the fact that if somebody's going to ask for a decision in 6 months, we've got a election where four board members seats will be up for election. Uh we've got the levy uh and we have um we've got some serious
financial concerns as well as a lot of building moves that are going on. So, I am still with um making it clear that we're looking for an interim uh experienced transitional superintendent that'll allow us the time uh to adjust to all the changes that are going on.
And uh and then in the other two bullets, if people are really interested and they want to come here, uh there's plenty of time there. It's not like they they have one-stop shopping. Particularly now, we may actually miss out on more really good candidates simply because of the short time because
they most likely don't want their names to go public and also because they don't want to put their um their current contracts and jobs at risk. Um and I think it would be clear uh much clearer in the interview process also um and
give us a much stronger uh concentrated pool of candidates. Um that's I'm still there, but I appreciate the fact that you're able to be flexible. Um been involved a lot of transitional leaders in this. I think that's what we need for
this for this job. >> Um so I typically um when these are written in a particular way there there's a reason for that. Although I was wondering um you know because the other
two are you know an interim superintendent with interest in becoming superintendent the following year or um an immediate three-year contract. Um would it be possible to just say an interim an interim superintendent with
with interest in a one to threeyear contract? Um, that way you're eliminating a bullet and it's, you know, there are really the only two options there. Although, like I said, I can I can understand that there might be candidates out there that look at it as
saying, well, I'd just be interested in the following year or I'd be seeking an immediate three-year contract. But if we could combine that into one bullet, I think it would just simplify it. But that's a question that I had because like I said, there's probably a reason it's written the way it is. >> I think that's an intriguing idea. So,
if that's something the board is interested in, I think then you're seeking an interim superintendent with a one-year contract only. And then the second bullet, as you suggested, would say a superintendent with a one, two, threeear contract, one-3 >> year contract. So, you wouldn't have an
interim superintendent for a year. You're open to having a superintendent for one year. >> I think the tough part is the interim superintendent versus the superintendent, right? >> Because the super interim is almost always a year. Yes. Right. But sometimes it's you're in interim. I think I mentioned this for this year and then
this year and and finally after three or four years you just become a superintendent. So I think the title of whether it's interim >> with that auditionary phase or if it's >> a superintendent with a one-year contract and or a superintendent with a two or threeear contract because you're right, it would simplify to have two bullet points
>> because we're already the second third bullet points at the top here. That's already branching into the more detailed application anyway. Um, I really appreciate that you brought up questions though, interview questions, because interview questions will be different for an interim superintendent versus someone with a
three-year contract. >> Yeah, >> just different questions. >> So, um, >> be consistent with the questions, too. And that's going to make it very difficult. >> So, that might be an argument in choosing >> one or the other, >> one of these. That could be a case toward that. Or you could look at who
applies for which of these two or three options >> and then decide what you're interviewing for based on who you're looking at. Is it going to be an interim superintendent one year based on who's in the pool or are you intrigued enough to want to do interviews as a superintendent or a one-year audition sort I mean maybe you
make the decision and we have interview questions prepared for this scenario or this scenario but then you try to interview them for the same job. You would not want to interview someone >> on the first for a a one-year interim contract and the very next person's coming in and interviewing for a
three-year. You just you wouldn't want that inconsistency. So maybe after you've seen the applications, you decide which of these you will be interviewing for. Maybe that's based on to your point who's in the pool. >> I don't know. >> Barb, I have a question clarifying. Could they actually apply for both? Mean
meaning like they could expressed interest like they could click both. Is that that's I mean I'm thinking that could be possible. electronic application the way it is. We had to have a branch in one direction or another. >> Okay. I mean, I like Director Smith's um suggestion. I think that this it's
simplifying it because it is really just those two different um Yeah, I I I like that suggestion. >> I like the suggestion as well. I think um having a this or that is is less confusing for everyone, both the
potential uh candidates and for us as far as interviewing will go. I have a question. Um, and you said something that you said something in your first meeting about the transitional leadership and the fact that we're going through a lot of really
tough changes. If an interim wants to know if they get the job after five or six months, that's right at election time. So, a board that will be choosing them may be different than the board they're going to have to work with. And that other board may not have chosen
them. So, what happens then? What happens if we do change all four seats >> and they and they don't want to renew the contract at the end of the year? I mean, that's that's a that just seems a huge risk for anyone looking for a job. It's like I don't know who I'm going to be working for.
>> Yes, that is that is a risk. That is without question a risk and it's become increasingly common unfortunately. >> Um we we did have a super >> they all flip sometimes. We had five people turn over one time. Someone was hired to start in July >> and in November five seats flipped and
in January they were working with two people who'd hired in them and five new people. Um and they're doing very very well. They are doing very very well as years ago. But it it can happen and that is something a candidate would probably think about before applying. I'm sorry. >> No, I mean I I feel like you know the
board could potentially flip every two years or even more frequently, right? So ideally we find a candidate that is you know able to work with different opinions and different people. So I don't know for me it's not really a factor but um I don't I mean I get the timing like they those people would be
on the board January beginning of January right right when we would be deciding to renew or not but for me it's not I I want to make sure that we have a leader that is you know open and willing to work with different board members and differing opinions. I I think it has to
do with the fact that a a brand new board could be actually reviewing that superintendent too and um and not having worked with them etc. Um but I think what really struck home with me was uh
you know basically the you know everything that's going on right now is is really difficult. the levy, for instance, um a potential levy, the building moves, the um budget challenges, the cancellation of programs
going into next year. Um and then on top of that, um an election, whether an elevy's on the on the ballot or not, there's still a major election. And that's um that's a lot uh for somebody to
be interim to full and be kind of interviewing for their job instead of having the freedom to work directly and be a true uh transitional leader and not have the baggage that goes along with
that. Um so that's what and I'm thinking about the candidate pool too. So again, if there are ones that are looking for a full three-year contract, um they're still going to be there when we start
looking next year regardless of who's on the board. They're not going to they're not going to say, "I only want to go now and I'm not going to take the time next year." That's so I'm looking at the bigger pool that we may have next year in addition to the fact that we actually
may lose those good people to not apply because of the circumstances this year. And uh again, we may get lucky. We may not get lucky. We there may be a lot of things that happen, but are we setting ourselves up for long-term success as a school district? That's
that's my concern. And um and there's there's a lot of moving parts right now. Uh and to rush that moving part process uh with someone that may have usually interrums that interview have a um they're solid,
you know, they've had the lived experiences, etc. They're not into it for the long term, but they've got a lot of lived experiences. Uh depending, of course, on who we get who we get to apply. So, that's just my concern. But, um, you know, like I said, anything can happen. We don't have any candidates on
the table yet. >> Um, Director Bullian, I actually see it a little differently. Um, I see it as really an opportunity for setting the bar higher for someone who can come in and is ready to take on those challenges. >> Um, so, um, I I just think, like I said, I I think it's just really about finding
the right candidate and they will know, um, what those what the situ they know what our situation is. if they've been following Prior League savagerary schools, they're well aware of um the challenges that we have before us. And um I think that, you know, I think that again, like I said, it sets the bar
higher. So, I'm I'm actually looking forward to seeing the applicants and and um what they how they can overcome overcome some of those challenges. >> I feel board members, I feel like we kind of came to a consensus on, you know, maybe uh having two options rather
than the three. Um, and if we looking at that, Barb, is there something more that you would like from the board as a whole, direction from the board as a whole, um, more than just allowing candidates to come in to check, you
know, one or the other and then letting us walk kind of through the process as it goes. I think, you know, there's concerns and perspectives that are super valid all across the board, right? You
know, um and you know, we need to just open this up. We I again appreciate the flexibility and the problem solving that you guys did. Um and I think that it is helpful to give a this or that uh to
candidates that are um interested in the position. Is there anything else any any board members want to share or anything else Barb that you might need from us? >> So yeah, the only thing I'd say is um I totally agree um that you know there's a
chance it might uh narrow the candidate pool. Um but like you said, it might not. And for me right now, the risk is low enough where um I'm really interested in seeing like
if if this is the route that we go giving both of these options. Um seeing who does apply. And believe me, I'm I'm not in an or I'm not super interested in in, you know, just because
that's the group that applies. like that's it has to be one of those those those people that apply because it might not be. And um and this is where I just want to go back and confirm something with you, Barb. You you did say
there's a a rolodex or a short list or something of of retired superintendent who would be maybe we could just call and say this is the situation. And again, if we get to a point where, you know, we go through this and um, you
know, the person's just not there, it's never fun to think about, but it is possible. Um, so if that is a place that we kind of have to go back to to say it is really just an interim situation where we are um contacting somebody just
to just kind of fill that void um that we still have that as an option. I I don't think it'll happen, but just planning for it if for whatever reason it does. >> You do. And I I would say that the rolodex is a whole lot smaller than it used to be. >> I'd say just in the last year or two,
it's become >> um more difficult to entice people out of retirement with the challenges facing public education. So, it's not a deep list anymore. No. >> But there are some there are some >> um I am thinking of something as I'm processing the idea of having two options as well. If the second option is
a superintendent with a one to threeyear contract, as a candidate, I'm not letting my name go public for a one-year. That's why I'm thinking I would want a three-year. And so I I think as a candidate >> I'm kind of going back to the idea that
giving them these three options so that they are clear because if they say well I'm not willing to go through a competitive interview process publicly if it's a one-ashyear opportunity but heck I'll do that for a three-year opportunity. So I I wonder if we need to leave it at three. I'm sorry I'm just talking out loud to myself
because I worry about them. I agree with that. The first and the third or do we need to stick >> to three? presented. I I don't disagree. >> No. And like I said, it's probably written that way for a reason and that might be it.
>> So So we should So your recommendation is we should three that you have presented. >> Now that I'm thinking about it, I am just because I know some some applicants that would check a superintendent with an immediate three-year contract. Yes, I am. >> Yeah. And if it says a superintendent
with a one to a three-year contract, in case it's a one or a two-year contract, I'm not even going to go. I mean, I I could just see some people doing that. So, I want to be fair to them, too. But it might make a whole lot more sense when you see who's in the pool because they they're going to fit one or one of these three. But >> so, if we based on what you said, we
just leave the first and the third bullet there and get rid of the second bullet. Um because we're either looking for one that's really here for the long haul or an interim only. And does that >> that really simplifies it. An interim
with one year or a superintendent with a three year >> because the one to three year sounds I mean that just doesn't make any sense anymore. >> And then it it's the the idea of um the auditioning. You could still keep that in there because some people might want to come in and see how it's going for a year and then they might look elsewhere
as well. So, I don't know if I'd remove that middle one, but it really would simplify it if you removed the little one, the middle one, and you no longer have an opportunity for someone to audition for you as they look toward a three-year contract. Do you want to remove that middle one? >> Yeah, because I mean, in my opinion, um,
if we get an interim and we like them, because you said the rolodex is getting smaller, I mean, we could nothing prevents the board from saying, "Hey, can you stay on?" Correct. >> And then the other one is you, you know, you're coming right in for the full Yeah. >> contract. >> And you did site some examples where
that was the case, right? It was an interim and just stuck around for was it in China? I think you said like seven years or whatever and then they're like, >> can we just make this official? >> Yeah. So, >> actually, he was only here for a year and a half and decided to stay longer. But there have been people had an interim stay for eight years. You just
never know. So, you could potentially move this middle one, remove it, and everyone you interview, if they're not interested in interim, they're going to be expecting a three-year contract from you. Is that what you want? Because you do have a lot going on right now in first abilities. Maybe do you want >> I think my question is, my question
would be for you, Barb, is um >> removing that second bullet, removing an interim superintendent with interest in becoming a superintendent going forward. Is there risk that the board has in
removing that? I think one of the questions that I I think about is um let's say uh someone is interested in the second bullet point. They're they're interested in the audition. Um given the um you know the truncated search that we
are taking we're going into right now. If the inter if the interim superintendent is interested in going forward, is that just a meeting of the board? Is that another interview
process? What does that look like for the board? >> Every district's a little differently. >> Sometimes it depends. There you go. Um some some boards do want to put them through a process in order to offer them a longer term contract. Now, sometimes
that process involves community input and staff input, which you don't have time for right now, right? >> Which is an advantage maybe to that middle one because then you would have time for community and staff input, but you wouldn't want it to be a referendum on that person's leadership because you are the hiring authority. So, you want
to be very careful that you're not collecting input for purposes of hire them, don't hire them, >> because you're going to disappoint someone when you make a decision that's not what they want you to do. So, I I ga gather community feedback very carefully. If you find that middle
option works and you find someone that wants to come here for a year to test test the waters and it's going well and you start gathering feedback, but it's in the middle of all this other stuff you're doing because it sounds like there's a lot. Are people going to have survey fatigue and focus group fatigue and are they going to want to even come
and talk about whether this person should stay or not? So, that's the allure I think of the first option and the third option. It's pretty clear you're here for one year. Maybe they say, maybe they don't, but you could have that option. And then pretty clear we're looking at you for three years.
>> My question would be by removing the second, are we taking anyone? >> I don't know. That's a crystal ball question. I wish I had it. Um, sometimes internal candidates want the chance to test the waters as a superintendent
without committing to whole three years. that that might remove that sort of candidate from the mix. >> You they're the ones that tend to sometimes stay, I love the district. I want to help. I'm here. If it doesn't feel right for me or for the board, I'm going to go back to my job. But you remove that possibility when you hire them as a superintendent. I think they
lose continuing contract rights with a superintendent role that they wouldn't with an interim position. I think they get to go back with the interim position. But otherwise, I I don't know. It's a great question. >> I know I'm kind of full circle. Can we just leave all three on? Is there any harm in that? I don't know. Or is that
harder for you? >> We don't know yet because we've never done it this way, but we're we're happy to do all three. And then when I talk to candidates, because we'll be doing vetting of the applications that come in, I'll be having conversations with each of them a lot more deeply about these three options and the nuance of
well this, if that, and if that, then that. And then I can bring that to the table. I think when you select your finalists that candidate B is only interested if this, candidate D and C are interested if this. It's going to be more complex for you to make a decision, I think, about which group of interview
questions you want to ask. But I'll have that candidate perspective because I don't want anyone's name to go public if it's not in what they feel is their interest. Nor do you want their name going public if it's not in your interest. If that makes sense. >> But yes, we can certainly leave all three and see where we go. Well, and I
think that might be the most respectful uh way for the candidates, right? Um and given that you have kind of done this uh problem solving for our for our our situation, I think it is the you know
being the most respectful to the potential candidates and that's really what we want to do. >> Although and I don't want to blabber the point so just indulge me for one second. We did all say that the next superintendent has previous experience
as a superintendent. That was seven of us said that that was an important thing. Are there people out there with existing superintendent experience that are inter interested in that interim to audition type of role or is that more of an
internal thing? >> I don't know. >> It depends. Okay. All right. Let's leave all three. >> Yeah. But that's a great segue. Thank you for asking the question. >> You're welcome. >> I I want to go to the leadership profile next and then circle back real quick to the top the things that are in red. So, this leadership profile was built from
the hiring criteria survey, and I I know you've had a chance to read it, but this is what we would publish. This is what people would look at to see if they align with it. It is what we would seek in uh reviewing applications to make our recommendations to you for your finalists. So, were there any concerns
or changes you wanted made to this? Because I do have the question, do you also want to list superintendent experience is required or do you want to add a preferred but not required? because it was a 70, you did want someone with superintendent experience. >> You know, based upon how the the ranking
went, I think we should need to prioritize these based upon, you know, how many of them said, you know, all of us said uh three of these. And so that's part of our priority. We want that to go
into the interview process. Um, and then if if we rank them that way, it not I for me it not only clears it up on our priorities and our interview questions, but it also I think clears it up for the candidates knowing where we're focusing
on the strengths and then where um some of us say you know the the ones in green you have three of them is six and then one of them is four and then two of them is three. And if we rank them that way, um, that kind of helps us and it helps the candidate.
>> Would you like numbers attached? Um, that's the order in which the leadership profiles built. The top three were all six votes, I believe. >> U, but maybe those top three, maybe one of those is more important than another, but I also could put one, two, three, four versus bullet points. I could do that. >> I think we should rank them somehow or
another. Um, because again, when we're coming up with the interview questions, >> prioritize it the way it is. I mean, I agree. When I was selecting six, I wasn't sort of ranking the six, right? So, to for to for me, that kind of adds complexity. I I think they're kind of in order based on our votes, but
>> um >> they are correct. >> I'm okay with it as is, but >> So, the original question was um superintendent experience or >> correct. So sometimes people will put
previous superintendent experience is required not very often or is previous superintendent experience is preferred but not required or you just leave it off and you see who applies. >> I think given the answer to the question that we all said yes it's important that
the previous experience um this next superintendent has previous experience as superintendent. I think it should be noted if >> I prefer not required. >> I agree. I think it's >> we've we've made that mistake before. We Yeah. >> Um we've had um in the history of my 20
plus years in this district, we've had superintendent >> that did not have it and it showed um >> that did not have the >> superintendent. Yeah. And it was not a good thing. And then we've also had ones that didn't have other things like the finance and then um again we ended up
hiring a consultant to help them out. So, I mean, if you want someone to hit the ground running on July 1st with very little ramp up, um, and they're coming into a transitional leadership team, um, I would think that and especially since
we all said it that it is required >> given given all the challenges that >> I agree. I mean, given all the challenges that we have facing within, I think somebody with superintendent experience is is important just in my opinion. So, But he I mean we did all say um
>> it that it's important to us that there that experiences >> is there. >> I think I mean I think it would be great. I just I want it I want everyone to >> it limits options. I want to see right
>> and I I believe that you know for me I want to I want to >> trust the process in the fact that have an opening people that are interested feeling led to to apply that they that there isn't a barrier to them I I want
so while the exper all experiences you know is beneficial in my opinion um in uh I do think you know we did have a unanimous agreement that that you know having that experience I too also don't
want to limit applicants um given the late stage and I think that there is a process you know we're going to know if the individual applicant had previous experience or not so that can be part of
the interview process right um But having a barrier for them to actually apply I >> I could fall back on if we went to interm like a one year that's more likely going
to be right our prior superintendent lot right but if we full superintendent right you know that that could be where we find someone doesn't have that and that's where I see
putting the requirement on there that would limit our search and that's why I said would be preferred but it's not required. >> So >> that's just my perspective. >> This is a great conversation. So we can put whatever you would like or we can leave it off. I I would ask a question. If it says previous superintendent
experience is required or previous superintendent experience is preferred but not required, does an associate superintendent count? Because sometimes there are superintendents of a district that have 300 kids. They are a superintendent. And then there are associate superintendents
of districts with 15,000 students. And an associate soup in a 15,000 district probably has more relevant experience than a superintendent in a very small district. So I want to make sure that the language isn't going to trip us up. So does an ASUP count just like a soup or is it a certain size district of
experience you're looking for >> or do we leave it open >> of equalized districts? Yeah, I think it's finding the right candidate. I mean, I just I just when we start to get so like narrowed down, I think it it really narrows down the application pool. So, I like the idea of >> um preferred but not required. I I like
your suggestion. I think it's and then and then we'll know. We'll be able to look at the candidates and determine which ones are the best. >> I wouldn't want to limit I agree like if there was a SI that had a district of a thousand and they were great, right? I don't know. I mean, >> I agree. >> Okay.
So, I'm going to add if it's okay with everyone, previous superintendent experience is preferred but not required. And then when the apps come in, you'll see where they've been in a superintendent or an associate superintendent. You'll know the size of those districts and so you'll have some context. >> Okay, thank you. >> That'll be helpful. >> Okay. How's the rest of the profile,
those six bullet points? Or do you want me to number them one through six? >> No, I like the bullet points personally. >> I like it. I I have no problem with how it is. If anybody >> leadership profile is okay. Okay. Then
if I can go back up to the top real quick, I just want to confirm um approximately 8,700 students preK through grade 12. Or is there another number I should use? >> No, that's correct. >> That's correct. Approximately 8,700. >> Well, we've got community ed, preschool,
all that. That's that's part of the >> district today. And you know when you do the search it it says approximately 8,700. So >> I use that then that's fine. >> 8700. And then is there someone who can get me how many employees work in the district? >> I did look that up as well today.
>> Um >> director. >> Do you have that number? Because I did look it up. >> And it depends on what you're I guess what you want to include like all of our athletic coaches and all of those. I
mean, anybody we give a paycheck to. Is that kind of what you're looking for? Basically, >> or we leave it off. >> I mean, do you want >> When I did the search, it was 1300. >> Those kinds of things. You're looking for everybody. I mean, they're just different numbers. >> Yeah. Community ed. There's lots of different >> Your headcount one was like,00
something, right? 11. >> You mentioned it the other the other day actually. The um a little over,00 with part-time coaches the whole bit. Um the number before this last year with
all the reductions was 1550 and that was carried over from director Herman and I believe you made a comment around 1370400 or something like that. So it's it's about the same but the total size of payroll on the district would be closer
to the 1500 and the and the you had mentioned that the other size is about 1100 >> everybody. >> Yeah. In part-time >> Yeah. Yeah, >> I can put in here whatever you'd like or I can leave it out. >> It's not going to deter someone from
applying and they can find it if they go online anyway. So, >> I think just for the ease, anyone doing a a search 1300 is the what it what it comes up with. And so if there's any
>> director co >> to that >> did is I mean if you were looking for a boss and you want to give them an idea of the workload that's going on which number would you use because you're the one who's got to actually when when we can say whatever we want but at the end
of the day when they do >> that's what that's the load on our payroll department who's process think You know, I shared some numbers with Christie and stuff. I mean, it was Yeah. I mean, without looking at all the part-time and coaches, I mean, we were going to be around that 1100 number. So,
if you start factoring all those people, we're probably giving paychecks out to close to 13 to,500 people depending on the season. Fall season, we probably have more coaches than we maybe do right now in the spring season, those different kinds of things. So, >> I think if if you search it and it says
1300, I think that's a fair do that average assessment of probably where we're at. >> Google AI says 1300. So I think being accurate is more important than >> AI isn't accurate. >> I mean if somebody's going to search it, they're going to look it up. How many people do we employ? 1300 as of May 2026.
>> I think the point is is we're trying to get them to understand the workload. So whatever number you use is the number you're really trying to get across. >> Yeah. >> 1300. Okay. I'll put approximately 1300 people or something like that. Do you want to include the annual budget? Because I know it's more than just the annual budget. There is fund balance and
expenditures and income and revenue and all of that. We don't have to include that either. Do you want a number in there? >> Let them look it up. >> I mean, they want a job here, they can do their homework, too. It's all on the website. >> Does any does any board members have any
preference to the budget number? >> I mean, if we're include if we're including um some numbers, not all of them. I mean to me this is we can spend all the time in the world you know going
over these minutia. Um and >> I mean if you add approximate number they can go look up our financial statement. I don't know if there's a pro or con to that. I would ask you if they if that's a quick reference point for somebody just looking at that. >> Well and I would say there's a difference between general fund budget
versus the total budget. So I think you guys got to pick which one are you talking to >> paired down posting. So, as we talked about, normally it's about a three-page vacancy brochure with all of those details. So, sometimes there's a rule of thumb that says, "Don't answer an unasked question." >> Yeah. >> And in that case, it might be simple is to simply say, "The school district
enrolls approximately 8,700 preK through grade 12 students." Period. >> That would be great. I'm I'm >> the link to our website obviously because that has all the financial information. >> Let's just let's just keep it simple then. After students, I put a period
>> and they can go there's a school district website. >> Yes. Thank you for the conversation. That was helpful. And then the city websites. I only put Prior Lake and Savage in here. Is there another city website that needs to be included? >> Credit River. Credit. They have one. >> Spring Lake Township. Credit River. >> Yeah.
>> Okay. Credit River and Spring Lake Township. Spring Lake Township. >> Okay. So, there'll be four city websites. Well, one's a township though. >> So, if we're keeping it just cities, then it would be Prior Lake Savage, Credit River. But we're area schools. So
PLSAS stands for >> Prior Lake Savage Area Schools. And the area schools is Credit River, Prior Lake Savage Township. Credit River and Spring Lake Township. Okay. Don't forget about school city and find something else. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Uh leadership profile we talked
about. Thank you for your help. I'm adding previous superintendent experience is preferred but not required. Um application deadline the bottom May 19th is going to stay in both of those places. is we will insert the link to apply as well where it says survey monkey link here. Now I'd like to just have you tell me what salary range
you'd like to post and that is the last piece on the posting information here. So, if you go to this page here, uh the new language within the last 15 months or so is there needs to be a range and we did include some information on um
comparable base salaries knowing that it's all negotiable and knowing you have a benefits package which definitely changes the numbers. So, you have thoughts on the top and the bottom of the range you might want to post. >> I mean, can we just keep a pretty wide range? Is there any harm in that? Again,
it's all negotiated. you can do anything you'd like. >> That would be my preference to keep it pretty broad. Just again, we don't know the candidate pool, we don't know. Um, and obviously given experience, benefits, all the things we can negotiate.
>> I would say given this the size of the district, giving a range and then based on it's based on their experience basically. I mean, >> I think you could give maybe a $50,000 range. >> Okay. Starting with what?
>> Starting with the um probably around I would say 225 for 50,000 and because the interim isn't going to be necessarily interested all the time in the benefits, >> right? >> Um but that's a good enough range to include the benefits and of course it's
negotiable. So, >> and I would say you think I think you need to look at like a Farmington um and then and then give a range would be my suggestion. I mean, >> Burnsville's 205. >> Yeah. And Burnsville's 205.
>> The Farmington only has 3,60 students. So, that's not really a comparable range for size of district based upon the workload. Um, that's my that's my two cents. >> I think it's a range. Like I said, it's >> Can we start with like the the
Burnsville range at least or two to 250 >> 60? I I don't know if we're limiting to 50,000. >> We need to if there's any benefit of that. Again, I I would say this is all negotiable. So, >> and it's going to be based on their experience, right? If they come in and
they're making X amount, I mean, it's going to be based on their experience. the the lower numbers, especially with an interim, would probably be a little bit more um or an experienced superintendent, is going to be and especially given what they're coming
into. Um so I think that um you the lower number is going to be your threshold, you can always go higher. Y >> um but if they see a low number and they know that that's what after they go through this process and that may be what we're at particularly since our budget situation that's going to cause a
lot of experienced people to tell you to go jump in a lake kind of especially with the workload that we're asking. So, I would say we would, again, I I'm still going for the 225 as a lower because it is lower than most of these of comparable sizes, but with the $50,000
uh range. And we can always go higher if the if the if we really want the person and the experience does it, but the low one is what they actually look at usually to gauge. >> Yeah. And I I'm just looking at this and I um
Burnsville is is kind of the outlier here. the the market seems to be, you know, if we're starting at that 225 mark, uh, with a, you know, up to, uh, 275, um, you know, the majority of all
of these districts fall into that range. Um, so I think that's kind of where the market is at here. I'd say if if we are looking at a lower number on here, the lowest I'd go is probably 220. Uh because Shakip is just just uh playing
tag with that number. Um that'd probably be my my lowest lowest amount is is 220. >> I just don't think we need to limit ourselves. Like I would do 210 to 280. I mean honestly it depends on benefits, right? So um again if we have way better
health insurance plus 5,000, you know, it's all part of the package in my opinion. Typically when you're job posting it's quite a range. So, >> yeah. And I agree. >> Yeah. I I am I'm okay with um you know,
just kind of listening to everybody's thoughts. Uh I don't think that um spending too much time on this. I I heard, you know, Burnsville, I heard, you know, so I mean, even if we did 210 to
>> 300 or something, you know, I mean, you could do whatever you want, but >> Yeah. um >> 210 to 275. I mean I mean all of it is negotiable. I mean I'm Barb you have the most experience as far as what ranges
are typically in a you know brought forward in contract. Is there suggestions? And I know you'll probably say it depends. Um so it pretty much just comes up it just comes down to the board giving some kind of direction and I think hearing some of the differing
opinions. I mean, if we say a start of 210, is anybody just vehemently opposed to saying 210? I understand that we have a lot of things uh that but things negotiable >> for an interim maybe, but when you ask
for a when you're starting off with that much lower than what you're currently offering your current superintendent that >> but the interim is a possibility. >> Well, no, I get that. But you go too low from that with the workload and then you go too low from what you're currently
offering. There's going to be I mean if somebody's good and they're going the heck am I getting into? I I just there's a lot of work in being a superintendent. So >> I think we also need to be sensitive to I mean I we know where Dr. Comp Dr. Thomas' compensation was, but he when he
came in, he was the sixth highest paid superintendent in the state. So we need to be sensitive to our fiscal responsibilities within our district. Um, I like going I mean, yes, we want to obviously we want to get top talent, but I like
the range of the Burnsville 205 and then whatever the next number that aligns with that. Um, you know, I'm looking at like Lakeville, Robbinsdale, Rosemont. They're all kind of in that like 250 to 260 range. Those are all pretty consistent, those numbers. So, and I
think if you go 205 to 255, it captures that $50,000 range in my opinion. Um, >> but I mean, we were talking about we don't want to limit options. Isn't that just limiting our options the other way? >> Oh, yeah.
>> Say more. Well, hearing that um you know, we didn't want to limit the candidate pool by establishing a range of you know, 225. If we're saying
if we're artificially lowering that that threshold or that that range, then we're still limiting the candidate pool. And I thought that was not the intention. So, is there a harm in just doing like a 205 to 275
>> that wide of a range? >> Again, it depends on experience, right? >> Because I don't know who's going to apply, but some people will look at it and go, I am definitely not a 205 person. >> Definitely a person. >> I mean, nobody looks at it 205 person. So, I I part of me thinks because you aren't quite sure what you're hiring
for, >> the range might be large enough to encompass the idea of any of these three options because what if it's an associate soup from a midsize district? >> Yeah. >> And it's a three-year contract. I mean, there's a lot of moving parts. You have a lot of moving parts. So, we just need
to abide by the law and put a range in here. >> I'm going to suggest the biggest range and say 200 to 300. >> That's a big range. That's a big range, >> right? I I agree with with Dustin, right? He said, >> as we've said, we don't want to limit
anything. >> And yeah, it's a big range, but we don't want to >> You brought it up and that's where my head was going. Like, who knows what we're going to get if we get an intern, >> right? for the year of hard work that we're
going to ask them to do. And if we get someone and right and they blow us out of the water, we want to make sure that we get them and we don't want to limit our options by cutting our range down. So, if we leave
it broad, then then we'd have it >> well. And I think respectfully, you might get a a superintendent from a smaller district who's very experienced, has checks all the box, and they're making 150 to 160. So, do they come in and make two 230 4050? I mean, again, I think it's, you know, it's based on
Yeah. market rates, experience, right? >> I'm not going to artificially lower their pay just cuz that's where they're at, >> right? No, I understand. That's what I said. It's based on experience. >> So, Barbara, is there a typical range that is offered? And I know you say it it's going to say it depends, but typical we're trying. We're trying to,
you know, there's a lot there's always going to be a we're going to have a vast um pool of of ideas. In a normal search where, you know, you're looking for a superintendent and you plan to give a three-year contract, most districts will
probably put a 30 to $40,000 range. >> Okay. >> You aren't quite in a normal circumstance right now with all of the options you're talking about. I the price point thing I mean you gave me a chuckle with the two to 300 but maybe it's 210 to 290 because I think just the
the vastness of that range will raise some questions but >> right >> who am I to say I'm not a candidate so I don't know but I I just need two numbers from you tonight. So >> I would take the 29 210 to 290. I think that that's a fair suggestion and it meets kind of the >> it's a it meets what everybody's >> and I can certainly talk when people
call me with questions I can say here is why >> here is why >> because I don't want someone looking at that that could be good and going because most job most job seekers do look at the bottom >> they don't look at the top because they know they can negotiate out >> okay thank you for the suggestion Barb
that helps us >> 210 to 290 >> I think so and and I'll just talk to a lot of people about this and explain why seriously And I think just even given the fact that this is new, the the you know the options is is new. I think
>> uh you walking through potential candidates and and helping them understand why the range is that is what it is. >> Okay. >> The Thank you. Yeah. You bet. So the rest of the meeting is pretty short topics. So first of all, public input. I just want to remind you that you are not
doing any other than the Q&A and that'll be recorded and put online for folks to watch at a later point. That's this Wednesday at 4:00. So the Q&A I do want to add however because of the window that you have between naming your finalists and conducting your interviews, uh you'll name them on May 26th. You will interview them beginning
June 1. In that week, you are going to hear from a lot of people, right? >> So when I say public input, you are going to get input. Once those names go public, you will be lobbyed for people and you will be lobbied against people. Please keep an open mind because just
because it's on social media does not mean it's true. >> I do however want you to listen to your community and listen to your staff. They're going to have thoughts and opinions. Do not engage in a back and forth about why or why not these people. Just say, "Thank you for your input. I
appreciate it." Move on. Just be very careful because there are special interest groups out there that are trying to sway the selection process because of Minnesota's open meeting law and data practices act. These names go public. Not every state has that. So we want to be very careful that you don't
fall victim to rumors hearsay and again who knows if it's fact or not. Sometimes it's in a you know a kernel of fact but it does not show the whole story. So please know you will be lobbied with public input in a very unstructured manner. Okay. If you hear things that
you are truly concerned about, let me know. I want the chance to look into those things, if you are hearing that about your finalists once you've named them because we will do our absolute best to uh vet and provide you with our recommendations. But again, because it's a truncated search, we're not doing a deep dive like we normally would with a
much more expensive search process. But let me know if you're concerned with what you might be hearing. Uh, as far as search agreement, I just wanted to confirm the last couple of pages in here. This is the interim search. Well, it's a truncated search. We're calling it kind of the search. Um, but it is 6,000. There's a lot of things in red
that we're not doing for you. Just want to confirm that. This is what will be in the contract. We'll try and get a contract off this week. Um, I'll send it to Danny and someone on the district if you could sign it once you look at it. But just want to confirm those things. Um, the guarantee does not apply. If for
whatever reason you don't find anybody this goound or you find someone and they leave, we don't guarantee we will have to charge for the next search. So just those things that aren't included to make sure the board is aware of those things. Timeline, you saw that as well in the proposal. So that's simple stuff. That's just the contract that we'll be
getting to you. I do want to ask about the role of the current superintendent. Typically a sitting soup does not have a role in the search other than if they are called with questions. They can serve as an ambassador for the district to talk about the opportunities that are here. Do you want Dr. Thomas having any
role? He would not be at these meetings. He will not be at the interviews. He will not see the applications. He will not be recruiting. Is that okay with the board or do you envision a different role for him? >> No. >> Okay. All right. Great. That's there will really be no role for him then at
this time. >> Correct. >> Um he will get phone calls, I'm sure. However, um that's just very very typical and the world of administrators is a small one. Everybody knows everybody. So maybe he's already had lots of people reach out to him. I don't know. Schoolboard spokesperson. Uh if
you are asked for a quote relative to the search process, what's your policy in terms of speaking for the district? Is it the board chair? Is it the communications director? Is there >> It is the board chair, but it's usually
um in tandem with the communications director. >> Okay. So, what I would say then to the rest of the board, if you are asked, especially by any media outlets for a quote, please don't say anything. and direct them to the chair and the chair will work with the communications department. So
>> yeah, typically any any asks of board members from any media outlet will we are we send it to our communications department. >> Okay, terrific. So we're all good with that. >> I would also ask that um on social media if you could share anything the district
puts out on social media versus creating your own. Creating your own postings from scratch can sometimes lead to unfortunate um misinformation. just the official stuff that's coming out is the true story. Share that if you'd like to share anything. Okay. >> Thank you.
>> Uh that segus to ground rules, dos and don'ts. Um please remain positive about the search process. It is going to be a little bumpy. There's a lot going to be happening. People are excited about this. People are anxious. Emotions are running high. So just try to stay
steady. Do refer questions to me. Um, if you have any concerns at all, if you have stakeholders with any concerns, give them my number, give them my phone, um, my phone number and my email address. I'm happy to talk to anyone. Also, candidates, if you have someone
uh, contact you directly. You'll notice it says in the application that candidates are requested not to contact board members. So, please don't take those calls. Please refer them to the search firm. >> Very good. >> Also, do not recruit anyone. And you want to be careful with what you say because sometimes people hear something
which is not what you said. So if you know administrators that you think would be great at this job, for instance, you might say, "Hey, go look at the posting on the district website." They'll hear potentially a board member wants me to look at this. I have a leg
up. And you you create some false hope with them and some false expectations. So be very very aware of the fact that you're a decision maker. And as a decision maker for this position, you have to stay out of the recruiting and the application process. Um it's just safer for all of you to do that. So please don't recruit. Um and please do
send people to me with questions, whether they're stakeholders or candidates as well. Um when we get to the point that you see the pool, I know I mentioned this, let me know if you're related to somebody. I just need to know that because that's going to change the voting circumstances. Um chances are you won't be, but it's happened a couple of
times. So let me know if you're related to anyone as well. Um, and again, the other thing too is if you're hearing things that are concerning either about the process or about the candidates, let me know. Um, just give me a call. I'd rather have those phone conversations versus anything on email. Um, your emails are subject to data requests. So,
I would really encourage you to let me know verbally if there's something that you're concerned about relative to the process or the people involved. Okay. Any questions on dos and don'ts? Wondering if there's anything that you can or should do or shouldn't do. Okay. Great. And then the industry contact person. I have been working with Danny.
Will that remain? I'll always send her the information for the board. Great. And then the ind district confidentiality employee at the end of the search, your notes from the interviews, your notes from the applications will all be turned in. And we want this person to have access, we'll give them access to the
applications because they'll need to download them and save them with your data retention policies in mind. So, who would be the confidential employee to have access to your applications when all is said and done? >> Director Kern. >> Got it. Lucky you. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. All right.
>> Uh that is all I had for the meeting tonight unless you have other questions. It's a lot that's going to happen in the next two or three weeks. >> Any other questions? Board members. Barb, I just want to say thank you so much for uh the support and all your experience and knowledge in guiding us
through this process. Um if there is no other questions and I'm hearing none, this special meeting is now adjourned. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you everybody.