Interviews expected to be held in April

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

Just one week before the application deadline approaches for a new school superintendent, the New York Mills School Board hosted a special meeting last week to go over an expansive survey that polled nearly 200 people in the community. 

During a special meeting on Thursday night, the NY Mills School Board went over a snapshot of 197 survey results to gain insight of what the school staff, community members, parents and business owners want to see in a new superintendent. 

Amy Taylor, of the Minnesota School Board Association, said the expectation is that school districts will receive responses from the equivalent of 12 percent of the school district’s enrollment. In the case of NY Mills, that would be about 90 responses.

The school board ended up receiving 197 responses, or approximately 27 percent of the student population.

Taylor said the response the school district received was “phenomenal” and provides the school board a good representation of what the community wants to see as it looks to replace NY Mills Superintendent Blaine Novak.

of the 197 responses, 52.79 percent were identified as parent/guardian, 23.86 percent were identified as staff member, 15.74 percent were identified as community member, 5.08 percent were identified as other, 2.54 percent were identified as business owner/agriculture and 0 percent were identified as student.

According to the respondents, the most frequently identified areas of expertise that was desired in a new superintendent dealt with budget and finance, collaborative leadership, personnel management, curriculum development/evaluation, school reform and public relations.

In the category of specialized skills, the top six specialized skills the new superintendent dhoulf posses were identified as:

• Acts with honest and in an ethical manner in dealings with the school board, staff and community.

• Is a “people person” with proven abilities in human relations and communications.

• Develops and directs an effective leadership team.

• Is visible and accessible to the school board, staff, students, parents and community.

• Delegates authority while maintaining accountability.

• Effectively mediates and accommodates different perspectives, values teamwork.

In regards to previous experience, just 37.43 percent of respondents said previous superintendent experience was important, while 62.57 percent selected no. 

The survey also sought input from the public about what personal characteristic are important in the next superintendent. The top six responses include: honest and ethical, effective communicator, problem solver, consistent, personable and transparent.

Respondents also had the opportunity to provide open ended input on a variety of similar questions to gauge further input. 

As part of the special meeting last week, the school board received an overview of the interview process, state laws regarding how to conduct the interview in public, potential conflict of interests, sample interview questions and things to be aware of moving forward. 

Applications for NY Mills School’s new superintendent will be received through March 19. Once the application deadline has closed, MSBA will conduct screening, preliminary verification of references and pre-interviews of recommended applications. During that same time the school board can review applications as well.

On April 2 the school board is scheduled to hold a special meeting to determine the finalists, as well as interview questions and procedures. 

The plan is to conduct the first round of interviews as part of a pair of special meetings from April 5-6 and second round of interviews could begin on April 9. From there, a new superintendent can be selected and the school district will offer the position to the applicant and enter into negotiations with the individual. 

The new superintendent is scheduled to start at NY Mills School on July 1, 2024.