ISD 191 board shifts superintendent interview times so members can attend feather ceremony

The ISD 191 Board of Education on April 23 agreed to change the start times for the special meetings set to host first‑round superintendent interviews so board members could attend the district’s Indigenous senior feather ceremony.

Board Chair Ward moved to adjust the schedule and the motion was seconded; the board voted unanimously to set April 30 to begin at 7:30 p.m. and May 1 to begin at 4:30 p.m. “Aye,” board members said; the motion “carries unanimously,” the chair said.

The change follows discussion of the feather ceremony’s timing and practical travel constraints. Sarah, the district communications director, told the board that “dinner [is] at 05:30 and the presentations begin at 06:30,” and cautioned that attendees might not be able to arrive at the start of the original 7 p.m. interview window. Board members weighed alternate start times and brief breaks between interviews before settling on a 7:30 p.m. start on April 30 and a 4:30 p.m. start on May 1.

Board members and staff also discussed the likely interview cadence: MSBA recommended 50‑minute interviews with short breaks between candidates, and the board assumed four to six candidates would be brought to the first round. The board asked staff to prepare a detailed schedule and to post the confirmed times on the superintendent search landing page.

The schedule change will be reflected on the district’s search webpage and in the interview logistics materials that staff and the Minnesota School Boards Association will provide to candidates and the public ahead of the interview dates.