The Elk River Area School Board will begin interviewing the people who are interested in becoming the next superintendent of the Elk River Area School District.
Superintendent Dan Bittman is retiring at the end of 2024 after leading the district since his hiring in 2017. ISD 728 covers 174 square miles and serves the communities of Elk River, Rogers, Otsego, and Zimmerman and the surrounding areas.
The interview sessions will start at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 25 and Thursday, Sept. 26 at the District 728 offices.
Barb Dorn, the director of leadership development and executive searches for the Minnesota School Boards Association, is leading the seven-member School Board through the process.
The application deadline closed Sept. 9 and the MSBA spent last week vetting the applicants, a process that included pre-interviews and verification of references. She told the Star News on Thursday that 17 people have applied for the job, and she called the group of candidates a “strong pool.”
Board members will decide at a special meeting following the board’s regularly scheduled work session on Sept. 23 which candidates to bring in for in-person interviews.
Due to the fact that the criteria the School Board established for the next superintendent aligned very closely to what the community and staff said in surveys, the board decided against appointing an interview committee.
The public provided input through a survey. They weighed in on factors like specialized skills the next superintendent will need as well as important areas of expertise, personal characteristics and whether previous experience as a superintendent is needed.
They also responded to a series of questions, including:
•What are the good things taking place in ISD 728?
•What are the challenges or areas of improvement needed in the district over the next five years?
• What does the superintendent need to know about the history of the school district and community to be successful?
Dorn reviewed a 17-page document at an Aug. 26 special board meeting, highlighting survey results from staff, parents, community members and some students. She also provided interview training, and facilitated the development of interview questions and procedures at the same special meeting of the board.
The School Board, which has had access to all of the applications, will hear MSBA’s recommendations on who it believes aligns best with the Elk River Area School District.
After hearing a summary of each of the candidates and MSBA’s recommendations, members will decide by a majority vote who to interview from the list of recommended candidates as well as any of the qualified candidates from the rest of the pool.
On Monday, candidates will be referred to as candidate A, B, C, and so on, until the board decides who to call in for interviews. The names of the semi finalists will be read into the record at that time, Dorn said.
The survey
Nearly 700 people completed the survey, which, considering the time of the year, is really good, Dorn said.
“People are very distracted in the summer, typically, so this is a really good response,” she said.
The survey provided both quantitative data (number crunching) and qualitative data.
Almost two-thirds of the people who filled it out were a parent or guardian. The next closest group was staff with almost 27%. Community members were the next biggest group after that.
“We do recognize that some people wear more than one hat,” Dorn said. “Parents and staff members, or maybe in the other category, (where) there were (people like) grandparents or retired staff or city staff.”
Dorn said the breakdown is very typical nowadays with between 60 and 70% of survey responses coming from parents, guardians, caregivers and then the next biggest group is staff.
What Dorn was most excited about with the survey results is the amount of alignment between those who were surveyed and the leadership profile that School Board members assembled for the search.
The School Board is seeking a superintendent with strong leadership skills who:
•Upholds ethical standards and honesty in interactions with the School Board, staff, students and community, consistently modeling transparency and integrity for all.
•Engages in constructive collaboration and decision-making with the School Board, offering strategic options and informed recommendations for consideration.
•Builds and empowers a dynamic leadership team, fostering a forward-thinking culture of inspiration and accountability to support and drive district-wide success.
•Leads with vision and creativity, steering the district toward innovative educational practices while embracing and implementing the School Board’s educational philosophy.
•Balances visibility and approachability in all communications with district stakeholders and champions improvements in educational outcomes for each and every student.
Dorn highlighted how the specialized skills desired by both the board and stakeholders shine through in the leadership profile.
“The themes were really clear with your 699 people, and the alignment was really clear with the School Board,” Dorn said. “So, I think that would have been the same, regardless of whether more people filled (the survey) out or not. I can’t predict that for sure, but I think that’s really encouraging.”
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