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Search firm outlines superintendent finalist schedule, travel and stipend options for candidates
Summary
McPherson Jacobson consultant presented stakeholder input, recommended interview logistics for March 10 finalists, and proposed candidate travel and moving-stipend options. Board agreed to include staff, teachers, students and community in interview panels.
McPherson Jacobson presented the Rapid City Area School Board with a stakeholder input summary and a timetable for finalist interviews and logistics on Feb. 4, setting March 10 as the likely day for finalist interviews.
Dr. A. Barker (search consultant) told the board the firm received 421 survey responses to an initial outreach and distilled community priorities for the next superintendent: leadership and decision-making, long-term strategic planning, local community knowledge and visibility, and communication and engagement with families and staff. The firm recommended assembling 20–25 interview questions through a short board-led selection process; the consultant said he would email a question list and asked each board member to select or draft five questions to contribute.
The board set an eight-hour interview day beginning at 8 a.m. for each finalist and agreed to include separate stakeholder panels: administrators, teachers/staff (including RCA-affiliated union representatives), community members, and students (the newly formed student school board was suggested). The search firm recommended paying candidate travel expenses (hotel, mileage or airfare) and mileage within driving distance; moving expenses could be offered as a stipend if a finalist required relocation. Consultant guidance indicated typical moving stipends run from about $1,500 to $3,000; several board members favored a simple dollar stipend rather than reimbursing itemized receipts.
Why it matters: Choosing a superintendent is the board's most consequential personnel decision. The board will meet again as search work progresses; the consultant planned to return a draft candidate interview schedule and question set to the board. The search consultant also noted plans to provide community-facing material summarizing stakeholder input and said the committee will accept public input through planned community sessions and the district's online survey results.
Board members discussed spouse/partner involvement in candidate visits; the consultants said districts sometimes pay to bring spouses for a visit but generally treat that as discretionary. The board confirmed March 10 as the target date to host finalist interviews.
No final contract decisions were made at the meeting; the board deferred negotiable items such as the length of the superintendent contract and exact moving-stipend amount for later discussion.
