Caledonia board narrows applicants to six, schedules interviews for July 29

The Caledonia Community Schools Board of Education voted July 28 to invite six applicants for interviews to fill a vacant trustee seat, setting interviews for July 29 and reaffirming a legal deadline to seat a new member by Aug. 1, 2025.

Board leaders said they received 14 applications and must complete the appointment process within 30 days under state law. The board reviewed and accepted a set of selection criteria that included commitment to public education; experience and skills; knowledge of district needs; decision-making and judgment; governance and collaboration; communication and public engagement; and commitment to serving students. Trustees debated whether to use a numeric rubric or a more qualitative approach and agreed to a hybrid process combining the rubric as a guide with individual impressions.

Trustee (mover) put forward a motion inviting Carrie Dykhouse, Brad Maslowski, Jim Crowley, Tammy Singleton, Bernie Nagle and Kyle Clement to be interviewed on July 29. The motion was seconded and carried by the board.

Trustees also settled interview logistics: the board plans half-hour interview slots with brief buffers (effectively 25 minutes of questioning) and allowed candidates to be interviewed separately; the board discussed and largely supported sharing either full questions or question categories in advance to provide a fair playing field. Trustees condensed a previously longer list of candidate questions into five primary prompts (with some split into multi-part items) intended to assess judgment, collaboration, and board readiness. The board also agreed to offer Zoom interviews for candidates who cannot attend in person.

Under the timeline discussed, the appointed candidate must accept the position and the district must file the appointment with the clerk within three days; the appointee would serve through Dec. 31, 2026. Board members said they will do informal prereview scoring using the agreed criteria ahead of the interviews but noted that any official scoring sheets prepared by staff would be collected and maintained as part of the record if used.

Interviews are expected to proceed July 29; the board said it may hold a special meeting July 29–30 to complete the appointment if needed. The board did not make a final appointment on July 28; the next step is to conduct the scheduled interviews and then vote to appoint a candidate.