High school administrator replacement process set

Board will seek to hire principal by May 8,

assistant principal by June 12; opts for broad-based input

By KREMENA TODOROVA

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- The District 88 Board of Education will seek to hire a high school principal by May 8 and an assistant principal by June 12, members decided in an informal session late last week.

Principal Richard LaPatka and Assistant Principal Dave Schmidt are retiring at the end of this school year, which leaves the board faced with the task of replacing both at (roughly) the same time. The dates in the hiring process are being staggered, however, to allow the new principal to participate in selecting an assistant.

The school board chose to involve a large group of people in the initial process of screening applicants, while engaging a smaller, more tightly focused group in the actual interviews and final selection.

Beside board members, the initial screening process will involve four of each high school staff, students and parents; two high school clerical personnel; the head custodian; the three remaining principals; and key district administrators such as the superintendent, curriculum, facilities, technology and activities directors and business manager.

The screening team will review folders on each applicant "at their leisure" between March 31 and April 4, identifying up to 10 top prospects for the job. The screeners will be asked to rate candidates according to a set of criteria derived from surveys of staff, parents and students. (See accompanying story.)

A smaller team of board members, administrators and teachers will speak to candidates around April 21-23, narrowing the field down to about six. These candidates would go through personal interviews May 1, with a potential follow-up interview May 2-3. The candidates will be interviewed by two "sub-teams" and also asked to perform a task mimicking a real-life situation, to help evaluate their ability to make administrative decisions.

Apart from involving the new principal, the process of selecting the assistant principal will be similar, with screening and first contact with candidates May 5-16, a personal interview May 28-29, a follow-up interview June 3 and an anticipated hire date June 12.

As of this writing, nine candidates had applied for the principal's job and 33 for the assistant principal's position (including 14 applying for both).