Cedar Falls School Board Could be Interviewing New Superintendent Candidates by End of May

The Cedar Falls School Board is on a tight timeline to find a new superintendent in time for current superintendent Mike Wells' last day June 30.

Wells resigned rather than be terminated by the board, which decided not to renew his one-year contract.

Under a tentative timeline, McPherson and Jacobson, the firm the board has hired to lead the search for Wells' replacement, will start advertising for and recruiting candidates immediately.

On April 18 and possibility 19, McPherson and Jacobson will meet with community stake holder groups, including parents, students and staff, in open meetings, with the goal of learning what the community wants from their next superintendent. They will also administer an online public survey.

On April 25, the firm plans to bring its findings from the public input to the board. That would also be the day the application period for the job would close.

The search firm would then go through the applications. Those applications, along with recommendations for the top candidates, would be presented to the board May 16.

Candidate interviews, likely with four or five finalists, would then take place the week of May 20-24.

The board would deliberate on the finalists the week of May 28 before making a choice.

If they are not satisfied with any of the finalists, however, the board may decide to appoint an interim superintendent while they continue to search.

In the meantime, the board discussed what they qualities they would like to see in their next superintendent.

Board members came up with 40 qualities. After some work, those were narrowed down. The board determined they wanted someone who was a change agent with a sustainable vision, someone who is collaborative and has a proven track record of working collaboratively, someone who is approachable, open, visible, engaging and has integrity and someone who is knowledgeable on school finance.

McPherson and Jacobson will use those qualities to help craft their recruitment efforts and when processing applications from prospective candidates.

The board ended by discussing a compensation package for the next superintendent. Mike Wells makes $180,000 plus benefits, and the board suggested that could be a starting place for discussing the next superintendent's salary.

In other business, the board may work with the Iowa Construction Advocate Team on the high school project. The board is in the process of deciding whether to build a new high school or renovate the existing building. Check back with Patch tomorrow for more on the progress made on that discussion.

Read more:

Cedar Falls School Board Chooses Search Firm as Process of Replacing Mike Wells Moves Forward

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