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Board directs MSBA to run condensed superintendent search; planning meeting set for next week
Summary
After hearing three proposals from MSBA, the board agreed to a condensed/interim search process to post a vacancy and begin candidate review quickly; MSBA will host a planning meeting and provide applicant materials and short‑timeline options.
The Prior Lake‑Savage Area Schools Board asked the Minnesota School Boards Association (MSBA) to run a condensed superintendent search aimed at identifying an interim or audition‑style candidate in the coming weeks.
MSBA consultant Barb Dorn outlined three options: an interim (very abbreviated) search, a condensed full search (truncated community input and compressed timeline), and a traditional full search. Each option varies in community engagement, steps performed, candidate materials required and cost. Dorn said regardless of the path chosen, the board will see all applicants: “We believe in a board‑driven search and board ownership of the search,” she told the board.
Directors balanced speed, community input and cost. Several members favored an interim/condensed approach because of the near-term vacancy and fiscal constraints, while reserving the option to credit the early search fee toward a full search next year if needed. Board members asked MSBA to add application fields to indicate whether candidates would accept a one‑year interim appointment or a longer multi‑year contract, and to note if candidates are willing to participate in a public process that would make their names public.
Next steps: the board asked MSBA to schedule a planning meeting for early next week. That meeting will finalize the posting language, timeline for community input and interview dates, and the sample application that will be used to triage semifinalists. MSBA said it can post the vacancy within a day of the planning meeting and will provide weekly updates to the board throughout the condensed process.
Because the board wants timely coverage, MSBA offered to credit the condensed search fee to a full search later if a second search is required; the board discussed cost tradeoffs and the option to add transition and evaluation workshops to the condensed search at an incremental fee.
The planning-meeting decision means the district could have candidates identified for interviews as soon as early June, depending on the timeline the board confirms at the planning meeting.
