Prior Lake‑Savage board finalizes interview rules, sets noon deadline for superintendent evaluation forms

Good evening everybody. I'd like to welcome everyone to this special meeting of the Prior Lake Savage Area Schools Board of Education, the board chair said as the meeting opened to conduct interviews with four superintendent finalists.

Barb Dorne, director of leadership and leadership development and executive search for the Minnesota School Board Association, led housekeeping and timing instructions before interviews began. "First and foremost, I want to congratulate the school board. This is an exciting point in the superintendent search. You have four very qualified candidates to visit with today about becoming the next leader of Prior Lake Savage Area Schools," Dorne said, explaining she would sit where candidates could easily see her and signal when 30, 15, 5 minutes remained.

Dorne told members to keep questioning consistent across candidates. "Please remember not to ask follow‑up questions unless it's a clarifying question specifically," she said, adding that short acknowledgements (for example, "thank you") after a candidate finishes help indicate the next board member may proceed. She instructed the chair to follow the interview script so each candidate hears the same questions and emphasized that any clarifying follow‑ups should be limited to resolving acronyms or unclear program references.

The board also discussed logistics for EMD scoring. Dorne reviewed the EMD evaluation form, noting the instrument lists 13 form lines but contains 11 substantive questions and that the timing code 'T' should be used only if a candidate actually ran out of time. Members were asked to indicate who asked each question on the form so post‑interview reports are consistent. Dorne said she will send an electronic link after all interviews and can run summary reports once members submit their inputs.

Board members debated whether to submit EMD entries the same night or the next day. Director Mason said a personal preference "would be to do tonight so that I have time in the morning to review." Director Atinson said he was "fine with that" or the alternative, and Director Alstead said he was "fine either way." The board ultimately set a deadline of noon the following day for EMD submissions; Dorne said she would return summarized results about an hour or two after that deadline.

Dorne reminded members their notes are subject to data requests and asked them not to record protected‑class information in personal notes; she said members' notes will be turned in to the human resources department at the end of the search process. She also confirmed interviews were being recorded and that the successful finalist's interview and the recorded deliberations would be posted online, while deliberations would not be livestreamed.

Before adjourning, the chair announced the board would recess and reconvene for deliberations: "The board is now in recess and will reconvene tomorrow, Tuesday, June 2nd at 6 PM for deliberation regarding selection of a superintendent finalist."