##VIDEO ID:6tN5RtTPZYE## good evening everyone tonight we are in a special meeting of the school board I would uh entertain a motion for approval of today's uh agenda second has been motioned and seconded all those in favor signify by saying I I I opposed motion carries our first order of business or item to discuss is the hiring of an interim superintendent it will be an action item and um I'll just give a little bit of an introduction to this and then we'll open it for uh other board members to talk about um I first want to thank the administration and um all of the employees and staff of the district this has been a difficult week and I appreciate your support and I appreciate um uh what you did for children um last week in a really tough time and it's all about the students and I appreciate the work that you've done we um understand that this has been an anxious time and so it's important for us and when I speak for us I'll say it's important to me and we can hear from the other board members that uh we move as as quickly as we can to provide some stability in the district um as we move forward and in doing that we will part of that would be to have an interim uh superintendent and so tonight we're going to discuss as a board in front of you what we'd like to see happen as it relates to that and so um I I have some thoughts but I really want to hear from the other board members on what their what their thoughts are we have met with the Minnesota School Board Association last Friday as it relates to guidance within this um um specific subject around uh an interum and then also uh the next item of moving into a full search of a super intendent and what that will look like and so there has been some recommendations or or guidance I should say by them on steps we could take and so we'll be discussing that tonight any board members want to start a question how do are we supposed to mention people's names or not mention people's names if we have ideas how does how should we approach that so the thought would be as part of our guidance from msba that we would determine if we want to do um an internal or external interim and then uh have those conversations we obviously wouldn't want to have discussions of actual names until unless that person knew about the fact that they'd be being brought up um and that might that might mean additional meetings but we um this is what's the beauty of this process is it's very informal compared to the process of a full search of a superintendent so we get to this is one of the few times we get to be very informal and have just an honest conversation about what we would like to see based on what we've heard from from District uh employees and what we're hearing in the community so um one of the thoughts that that I um took one of the takeaways that I had from the msba conf uh conversation was really about internal versus external and weighing those pros and cons and um one of the two things that glare for me to go on the external rout out is someone who's had experience coming in and doing this INR for a for a six-month period potentially um makes a lot of sense for our district um because we would tax whoever we would put into this role and we would have to backfill um that person and that potentially would add stress to the district instead of helping um the district and they would have to learn the role and um while they know the district well there's some superintendent pieces that they may not know and so providing an external Source would would be something that I would really uh I when I looked at pros and cons that I thought would be beneficial but I'd love to hear maybe Gary or Neil or Dave Neil and Dave were at that meeting Dave represented at msba um at that meeting as he's a regional officer for us and then Gary as the vice chair but Neil you have the floor yeah we uh we are already uh in the midst of enough confusion I think to add to that confusion would be to to uh move somebody internally into the position of superintendent then we'd have to deal with replacing two positions um I absolutely uh am convinced that we should seek as much guidance as we can from the msba they are a very competent organization and they have a lot of experience doing this these sorts of things uh and um I believe that we should probably have an in uh an interm superintendent who has some experience doing that and is not a stranger to the kind of situation that we are in and who has demonstrated some qualities that would convince us that that person would do a decent job of uh dealing with our situation Vice chair schler I agree with director score on that front that someone external with experience in an interim role I think the answer director's hofman's question um my sense in talking to msba and again Dave was there too that a framework for hiring is going to conceivably be could be late January with hiring perhaps happening in April within that context then to me I'm just trying to think Nuts and Bolts um you know maybe perhaps a six-month contract for that period of time um I just know as a board member we have robust plans in place for for the literacy plan we have Master facility plans and uh and each principal has plans for within their own building so to me I want to have someone with a skill set to help facilitate our administrators achieve their goals that are already established I don't want an interim to come here and here's one feedback item I had from a teacher and it was don't start moving the principles around well I would hope to heck that an interim would not do that with that said I also want to express appreciation director clot has been instrumental in in giving us guidance as our region one director and and Dave has been very clear that his guidance was given to us in that role and so I really appreciate the work you've done to help us uh I think I have faith that we'll have an expeditious process to get eventually to a new superintendent director Hoffman um to me it doesn't make sense to limit who we would consider based on internal or external I think um from my perspective and the feedback I've gotten from the staff I've talked to is I would be open to either way I'm more concerned about finding the best person in the right fit um I know of a candidate who's external who I would be interested in interviewing and one internal and I I just think we should look at all viable candidates director clut yeah I'm wearing my Albert Lee board hat more than anything um it has been uh it even at the msba level this is something they don't really talk about it's it's um it's a it's a process kind of like hiring a superintendent we thought maybe it was a one-time deal but it is what it is um and they don't give they give guidance they don't give legal advice there at all so in speaking with them uh they basically said a couple things to keep in mind was number one do it expeditiously as you can because you want to make sure that not only your school school system and your teachers and staff and everyone feel confident in what's going on but also the community does because it is it is a big situation when you have a a turnover who's going to sign off and what's going on um they also talked a lot about um trying to get someone that it's it's a little bit more second nature than in other words some experience if you can because we got to remember albertly Minnesota uh isn't the isn't a hub like the Twin Cities are where we might have four five six half a dozen people that are interested in doing or that are still licensed to do it so you got to make sure you've got all the right because like a lot of positions you can't just want to do this you have to get the actual certification to do it so um but yeah they've been very helpful and guiding uh we had that uh conference call on Friday uh they they helped us for in the search they they are the major search engine now in the state of Minnesota and they haven't ventured out site too much out of the state but they are the major search engine for superintendent now uh it's almost a two to one over the nearest um other firms so uh they've given good guidance but again they just said you know and and I'll be honest with you too you know some people say oh you don't do this you're going to lose funding and I'll tell you the executive director dor told me and I I think he told director or chair Nelson too the state's not going to do that to us okay unless we decide to wait for two three four months and try to do something at that point and then they're going to come in and say you know hey you got to kind of be moving along but again you know again I don't know what kind of a candidate pool of a lot that might be available but uh yeah it's it's an interesting process and everyone's help is appreciated did msba say they had a pool of candidates that would be interested in interviewing for an interim interim position they told us that if however we decide tonight that they could make uh a list available to us if we if we needed it so they do obtain a list and maintain a list yeah good question I just want to say I was uh director Hoffman took the words out of my mouth too I was thinking the same thing I've talked to a lot of community members a lot of Staff members um the same name it's an internal uh option keeps popping up every time I talk to people I would hate to it sounds like the first you know first couple things I heard is we want to limit this to an external which I would hate to do so I just want to make sure that we travel every Avenue to make sure that we get the best options we have you know if it is an internal one and it's the best one that we have I would love to run with that rather than limit it to an external um I think if the same name keeps popping up that's a great thing to hear it's my opinion there and what I've heard from a lot of like I said staff members and community members there too what are we voting on with this yeah so we we what what I'm hearing is that there is definitely um an interest in interviewing um candid candidates or candidate for um for an interim position internally or externally so really one of you would need to make a motion to direct the board that way and we can have some discussion after a motion in a second and then we would vote on that so um there's U before we do that Kim um again the I'm sort of leaning on the msba here and if we were to uh suggest that we could uh uh refer to them to collect or gather a list of candidates both external and internal I don't know as if um we have the Machinery to gather such a list um I I I would I would uh is let me ask Dave or Kim you you've you've contacted msba do they have the Machinery in place to orchestrate the collection of a group of candidates or could we could we uh refer to their their services to uh reach out and and select or uh recruit candidates that we could then screen so I'll I'll let Dave go too but um my understanding that this is very informal so barbwood Barb with msba um Dorne um who helps with executive searches would just provide us with the list and it might be a situation where board members just reach out individually and just see their interest to come in for an interview it is that informal so it doesn't have to be a signifant like like a superintendent search and it's uh msba it's it's not called an emergency situation it's handled that way uh whereas if we do a full superintendent search of course we're going to have more than one name or two names you know we want to make sure we've got a pool in a situation like this because they do want to make sure someone is guiding the ship then they do allow even one name or two names it doesn't matter how many but they said just get someone that's interested um Barb Dorne said that they can provide a list she doesn't know exactly who would be on that list um nor are they interested nor are they interested in driving to albertly Minnesota three four or five days a week that's another thing we look at and so um it all depends upon the timing I mean do you want to wait a month you want to wait six weeks you know we we we can do whichever or do we want as director score said too you know shuffle around a little bit too to try to make things do so anyway so they don't give they didn't give us specific names just said that barb said or words where I do have a list of people that I could contact to see if they had an interest and come in talking to albertly I think we should compare notes mean I had feedback as well as the others on the potential internal candidate can we put that name on the table we can but we can't discuss um specifics about feedback okay either positive or negative okay um that would be part of an interview process and question no I got you that makes sense if that's if I'm yeah yep I motion that we consider all viable candidates internal and external got a motion I'll second it has been motion has been motioned and seconded that we um entertain uh all viable candidates both internally and externally that will we would have discussion on that yes I'm I'm certainly in favor of that um I I the thing that jumps out at me though is whatever verb you put in there consider entertain what does that mean I mean how are we going to what process do we have invol in place to entertain consider screen uh whatever term you want to use any any perspective candidates internal or external how is that collection going to take place uh how how our candidates going to be solicited I mean it's it's very very well to say that we're going to uh seek candidates but uh I I'd like to have something firm in place that would describe the process that that seeking involves um David and um Gary could correct me if I'm wrong but because it is informal um if the if if we want to include in the motion if the candidates potential candidates have been talked to um that they those names could be brought for forward during the motion and then we could just simply say that we would set a date to interview both of them or three of them or one of them or whatever it is as I said I'm certainly in F obviously we're here tonight we're we're definitely in favor of finding an interim superintendent um but but somehow somewhere somehow we're going to have to work out the details sure I think I don't know if I'm just don't understand it quite yet but what's the alternative if the motion didn't pass what would be the alternative we we would rock without uh a superintendent okay uhuh okay the the point of the motion is to not limit who can apply based on whether they're external or internal candidates then um during we could we could have this motion and continue to to discuss and then make and approve or not and then we can have the conversation about what that would look like then if we if we went forward right and and again I I it would be my suggestion that we would seek the advice of the msba as as perhaps having some highway to this destination that we are moving to achieve I make certain too that of our language um I appreciate what director hman put on the table as a motion but it may not even be an application process if we get a list from msba we could select someone that looks like they would be a good fit and invite them for the interview we could do the same thing with an internal candidate or candidates it's not I don't I don't foresee a formal application process it would be us reaching out to to in individuals that would want to sit and interview and then we would make a decision who we would appoint as our interim yeah the the contract is simple it's one page it's got their name on it it's got basically a date of start kind of a date of end and an amount that we're going to pay them that's it because generally when you're dealing now it could be different with with internals I'm I'm just using and an external as an instant for instance they're retired so they're probably already picking up their benefits and they're not uh putting money into their retirement funds anymore their tras or anything so anyway that's yeah very simple process and and again it would be a list of names that then we would need to reach out and find out if they were interested and then coordinate schedules and um I mean there's things that want as simple as Paul the weather right all sort just little things like that that all of a sudden needs a stamp of approval somewhere and uh we put some people in positions if we make the call and if the call isn't the right call it keeps our district a little bit into a little bit of potential liability situation on that too so anyway just but yeah very simple process but we have to find them then so just to clarify did you have a question Davey your that sign was up from before so just to clarify or go ahead no no I forgot to put it down I forget to look yeah um just to to reiterate the motion it's really about um looking for internal all all viable internal and external candidates through msba or referral yes okay all those in favor of the motion if there isn't any more discussion signify by saying I I those opposed motion carries 7 Zer okay so now the discussion would be that um we would if you are okay with it I would um reach out to Barb and get a list from them and then also board members if you have have um any recommendations we could um share those uh with me as well and then we would set up interviews based on on that process do you have an estimated time frame in mind from talking to msba we were hoping to try to expedite this within um be close to when school would come back so there'd be someone in place for our students staff and faculty when they they came back so pretty quickly yep and I don't I I what I've what I've been hearing I I know we share that but what I've been hearing is any kind of um certainty we can have for our students and our staff right now would be the best and so that's why I say that um unless anybody's heard differently I don't uh I don't think again this is a very informal process and and it doesn't have to be in depth as a a formal um uh search and so um I feel if I were to weigh what was more important um I would say that more important to me is to get someone in here that can support the the administrative work of the district and the students and staff the main the main certainty we have is that we've got a process going there is no timeline that's what's going on at this point and I I hope the community and the school district that understands that we're not pushing forward with any more than going back to committee and going to talk and see how the committee comes out I think we had uh that as a uh administrative process one or two superintendant ago and it takes a lot of time to get things done by committee and so that's I hope that barb can get us some names now we're going to run into the end of the year the first of the year have people that are going to be interested to uh take a look and hopefully we've got a pool there too but like I said there's that's the process at this point I did share with Barb that if we uh did need her assistance with the list that we I would be reaching out tomorrow so she is aware of that all right so board members you will be contacted about potential schedules through Darcy on interviews and then those it might have to be an emergency meeting based on our our timeline um but otherwise it'll be posted as a public uh special meeting so any other details with that piece that I forgot I just wonder I guess uh just since there could be some internal names maybe they need to uh reach out immediately let's let's put it maybe to expedite this because that's what I'm concerned about something happens with the school district we are liable at this table just so you know not going to go into that any more than that you only need for a few days Bruce just a few days maybe we should maybe we should say um I don't know 12:31 1 of the year school starts on the sixth or whatever the day I mean I think we should put a date for people that are interested to get back to us other way and and that's going to hurt us with Barb because she's going to give us names that w not even going to know but I don't know that doesn't have to be I'm just again I'm concerned about the timeliness of what we're looking at and U processing with because I don't want to get to you know where we don't have anyone type of deal so I'd like to even tighten that up if we can if we have people internally that have an interest in serving as inum that by the end of the day Friday I think we move give move it up a week I mean it's going to give us another week and again if we are going to be conducting an interview uh even though the process can be informal I think uh I'd rather I'd rather move that up a week Dave and have a internals give us an in statement of Interest by Friday 1227 Y and I could have a I could have a list by from Barb and contacted uh external potentials by that time too so how will we determine the interview questions is that something we'll submit to you before we have interviews and I think we'll I think we'll work with Ashley and Barb Barb will have she's the executive Search person and she will have stock questions for us if there is something you'd like to ask though please please feel free to submit that because I think they'll be aligned perfectly with with what we're going to get from Barb so okay any questions about and those uh those questions we would direct to you then and you would relay them to Barb thank you any other questions before we move on to the next piece thank you for your thoughtful discussion as we move forward um so now we're going to discuss superintendent search process again we did discuss with um uh Barb Dorn um Friday about um what are our options as it relates to a superintendent search the good news is is that we're pretty early in that process um and she recommends that as msba recommendation that we um really look at mid January to late January to start that and then move with that timeline with a a potential hire in April so move it back I want to assure everybody that the conversation did surround or did circle around making sure that we had valid and extensive uh Community input with forums and also District input um we have the time uh with this search to be able to do a comprehensive search of a superintendent and we want to make sure that all of those voices are heard when we make make the decision so that's that makes me very happy in the process and I think it's it's the most uh significant part of the process um we will um what we have to determine is if we um Dave alluded to this um msba does about 85% of the school board searches for the state of Minnesota we as a school board can decide three we can decide to go with a different search firm we can decide to go with msba or we can do it on our own um I'm thinking that our capacity right now would doing it on our own is probably my recommendation would not to be do to do that um but I know that the other two options come with the price and so um want that discussion I don't know what that is we would have to get proposals so um we can talk up what that looks like um and um yeah I don't Dave and Gary if you want to add Dave do you have a sense of what the fee would be if msba ran our search for us it's it's honestly great timing uh last time we went out in search for superintendent it was not because we started more into March and April and that but this is the beginning of the year of the new year is when the um the bulk majority of the candidates are available and uh in and interest in looking around so I we're if the sooner again we get that going but I think we're in perfect timing for that what about price tag do you have a sense of price tag you know I I think last time and I you weren't in there I want to say it was $25,000 for the entire search and that is the they do mostly a regional search I asked that also on Friday they don't go out of state a lot but they said there are a number of people that live and maybe work in a different state that are looking to come back to Minnesota move to the area so they do reach out a little bit but it's mostly Minnesota candidates which gosh you already know if you like the snow or not so I guess you're going to stick around but uh so they they will have a pool it would really be nice if we had something in the process or at least something to talk about at msba when we're up there you never know who we're wearing our little shirts around to the Albert Le on there somebody might ask ask us a question that type of thing so again it's it's it's really good timing this time last time the the timing just wasn't as good I I I don't recall exactly what the cost was it seemed to me it was less than that but I do recall that it was the mba's version is significantly less expensive than any private outside firm and and and quite frankly I think think they more MSB would be more reliable this is an action item so I'd like to make a motion that we post an opening for a new superintendent no later than the last week of January 2025 and we hire msba to coordinate our hiring process I will second that motion all right so there was there's a motion on the table to do to move forward with um uh receiving an a proposal from msba on a superintendent search no later than no later than the end of January than the end of January gives us a wiggle room but I also I I have confidence that msba msba has a good process in place that has appealing price dat any discussion yeah and Kim and and that I like that because if by some miracle some uh VI very viable candidate descends Upon Us in the meantime we could still go with that option can I ask a question to Paul yeah Paul do we have this is in the budget annual budget do we budget for searches yes okay that's all I want to hear just one comment as a director of southeast Minnesota I will abstain from the vote so um I would actually rather take more time to think about that and um the you know our search in 2022 I think was to me it felt very rushed and this time I really would like to take as much time as we can put a lot of thought into it um I actually would be open to doing the search next school year I don't know maybe that's too far out but I just want to put a lot of thought into it I'm not quite ready to make a decision on msba or not msba I would rather wait and think about that a little bit later any other comments most interim contracts are six months so if you run out interim an interim then we'd have to look for another one and transist again so just just to keep that in mind you know maybe you amend the motion even not to be msba I'll just using that because that gives us a chance to to possibly look at other firms but um you know again like I said we we you know we we can push this out and time in any way we want it's all what we want to make sure that we've got some guidance and Leadership and and you know possible interims do go longer than six months but I know the contract is only six months long when we start so it could be that they would extend any other comments my my only comment would be that um this if we start in January that would be almost doubling our time from the last search to allow for that Community input that um stakeholder input that we didn't weren't able to get exclusively last time and and I think that's what we were missing the last time plus I'm I'm anxious are a little anxious about having multiple interims and there's that potential if we if we go six months and then 6 months so um I'm I I feel like a January to to April um time frame is is more feasible than what we had to work with last time and Kim I do not believe that there's anything in the motion that that prescribes that we will have have a superintendent in place July 1 that we will have candidates presented to us by a an an organization who whose business it is to do that and if we don't like any of the candidates we we we could as you say go into another year all right I am hearing any not hearing any other discussion I will um ask for a roll call vote Bruce ssen hi Dave Valerio hi I'm doing this and Darcy should be doing this I'm sorry we'll start over Darcy's going to do it I'm sorry Bruce I Dave I Kim I Gary I Angie Nate Neil I all right that is five I votes one abstain and one nay motion carries [Applause] all right that has exhausted our uh agenda for this evening thank you everybody for coming and I move for or I ask for a motion for adjournment uh is there a second all those in favor all opposed motion carries