Greenfield School Board Decides to Wait, Again

Greenfield School Board member Russ Spahn was only kidding, but he might as well have been serious when he told Assistant to the Superintendent Erica Wendelberger to “just book the room for every Monday night.”

Spahn made the joke Monday after board members unanimously decided to table an important decision regarding the filling of the superintendent vacancy for yet another week.

On the agenda for the second straight week was a discussion and possible decision to “approve compensation for performance of additional duties related to the Superintendent and Director of Business Services roles.”

Options include hiring an interim superintendent or allowing the duties of the superintendent to be fulfilled from an administrator within the district.

Board members debated the same thing Jan. 28, but came to no conclusion. Deliberations Monday produced an identical result.

Board members will hold a special meeting again Monday, Feb. 11, to discuss its next move again. It will be the board’s sixth straight special meeting in as many weeks, all centered on the leaving of Superintendent Conrad Farner, whose last day was Jan. 15, and how to replace him.

The decision not to move forward Monday came after nearly 3 hours of board business in closed session, half of which was spent interviewing representatives from search firms to help the board hire a new superintendent.

Some, if not all, of the other half, presumably, was spent debating what to do in the immediate future.

The board did make one decision regarding the key vacancy Monday, and that was to choose the Wisconsin Association of School Boards to help assist in finding a new superintendent.

Assuming the contract is OKed by the district’s legal team, WASB will receive no more than $12,500 and will start its search Feb. 11. The goal of WASB will be to fill the role permanently by the end of April.

“WASB had an excellent presentation, they had good ideas and I think they’ll be a good fit for us,” Board president Bruce Bailey said. “They’ll talk to the public and other stakeholders and will get us the best superintendent they can for the job.”