The Hopkins School Board agreed Tuesday to begin a formal superintendent search after Superintendent Mary Pirie Reid informed the board she will not seek a contract renewal. Board members directed staff to request proposals from four local executive-search firms and to begin the process of interviewing firms early next year.

Board members and trustees discussed options for selecting a search partner, including issuing a full request for proposals (RFP), requesting proposals without a formal RFP, or inviting a small set of firms to interview. The firms discussed by board members included the Minnesota School Boards Association (MSBA) executive-search division, HYA, School Exec Connect (the firm previously used to hire the current superintendent), and Ray & Associates.

“Everyone has recommended that we hire a search firm,” a board member said during the discussion, summarizing feedback from recent searches in other districts. Several trustees stressed the importance of the board directing the search committee and setting clear selection criteria so the vendor serves in a facilitation role rather than making the district's selection for them.

Board members debated the administrative workload of issuing an RFP versus a lighter request-for-proposals process and whether to deputize an executive committee to draft the selection criteria. One trustee said a small committee could gather input from colleagues and return recommended criteria for the full board to adopt in public session; others preferred the full board craft criteria together.

Timing discussed at the meeting calls for soliciting proposals in January, beginning targeted recruitment in February and conducting interviews and finalist visits in spring so a transition period overlaps the current superintendent's contract ending on June 30.

Next steps: the board will request proposals from the identified firms and return to the board table in January to interview firms and refine selection criteria. The discussion was informational and preparatory; no candidate selection was made at the meeting.