Three already in line for Central Lee post

DONNELLSON – The search firm hired by the Central Lee School District board to find the replacement for Dr. Andy Crozier as superintendent already has three candidates for the position, and the profile for the position is still being created.
Stephen Murley of McPherson & Jacobson out of Omaha told the board Tuesday night there are already three applicants that have reached out regarding the opening.
The board was meeting to hear the developed schedule for the search with an eye on naming a new superintendent as early as May 12.
The position was posted on Monday, March 16. On Wednesday, Murley was in town to help set up the profile through interviews with staff.
The goal is to have a draft profile and interview questions along with a schedule in place before the end of the week.
At the next regular board meeting on April 14, Murley said it was his intention to have all the draft profiles, interview questions, and schedules put together for a final approval in open session with the board.
"Our search window will close on April 24, which will give us a good time frame,” Murley said.
"We’ve got that information out and posted, and we’ve already had three applicants come in. So we’re off to a good start there and we've had a lot of conversation across the state with sitting superintendents looking for a new job, as well as people on teams who are at that point where they’re ready to apply."
The process then goes to closed sessions starting on April 28. Then the board will look at a full list of candidates, including everyone who has applied for the job. He said at that meeting the board will narrow the search down to six semifinalist candidates. On Tuesday, May 5th, the three finalists will be named after another closed session and those names will be released to the public.
Those finalists will be on the campus on Friday, May 8th to go through the interview process.
“That goal would be to conclude that process by the end of that weekend and then make the announcement on first thing Monday morning,” Murley said.
He said on the next regular board meeting would be May 12, the board would be ready to approve the candidate and place them under contract.
The board did briefly discuss rough salary parameters but didn’t set a defined range for the salary and will plan to do that in the next few weeks. Board member Mark Hulsebus asked if it would be better to leave the salary range undisclosed until April 14, but Murley said the range is just a range and the candidates will be aware of that early in the process.
He said the board is not tied to that range and can move as they see fit based on qualifications of the candidates.
Wednesday interviews were scheduled with community members, administrative staff, teachers, and students and would take about 11 hours.
He said information from the Wednesday interviews would be finalized by the end of the day Thursday and a draft profile of the position would be available by Friday.
Murley said the closed sessions with the board are preferred to allow for a bigger pool of candidates. He said a lot of candidates won’t apply if they think the entire process is done in open session, however the final three candidates’ names will be released when they are selected.