BEMIDJI-Bemidji Area حلحلآ»s board members narrowed the list of superintendent hopefuls Thursday.
Consultants from حلحلآ» Exec Connect presented the board with a list of five candidates, which they had culled from a field of 24 total applicants. The board approved that five-person list for a round of interviews on Saturday, which made the candidates' names and other information about them public.
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The candidates are, in the order they were presented to board members:
• Tim Lutz, superintendent at Kelliher Public حلحلآ»s
• Jim Wagner, superintendent at Kimball Area Public حلحلآ»s
• Rochelle Johnson, superintendent at Cass Lake-Bena حلحلآ»s
• Tony Kinkel, executive director at the Minnesota Board of حلحلآ» Administrators
• Mike Kolness, superintendent at East Grand Forks Public حلحلآ»s
حلحلآ» Exec Connect consultants handed out large packets of information about each candidate to school board members. The public is entitled to considerably less information under state law.
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The board also approved a standardized list of questions they'll ask each candidate on Saturday.
Interviews are scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at district offices and are expected to wrap up around 4 p.m. After that, the board is scheduled to narrow their choice to two or three finalists.
And next week, those finalists are scheduled for all-day interviews with community members, district staff and students before second interviews with the board over dinner.
On April 18-19, the board is scheduled to narrow its choice to one candidate then negotiate a contract with him or her over the next week. Board members are expected to approve the next superintendent's contract in May, and whomever board members choose would officially start their new job July 1.
The new hire will replace outgoing Superintendent Jim Hess, who's helmed Bemidji Area حلحلآ»s since 2004. Last August, Hess announced that this school year would be his last at the district. He was named a finalist for a job at Grand Forks Public حلحلآ»s, but board members there ultimately chose a high-level administrator in that district.
