The Forest Lake Area School Board has picked a firm to lead the search for a new superintendent and is reopening its search for a new board member.
After not reaching agreement on any of the 11 applicants who applied to fill the vacancy that was created in October when Luke Hagglund resigned, the board voted Thursday night to undergo another search.
The deadline for applying is 4 p.m. March 16; applicant review by the board will take place at the March 19 board meeting.
The board also decided to hire Minneapolis-based Ray & Associates to conduct its search for a new superintendent. Applications for those interested in applying for the superintendent position were due Dec. 3. Superintendent Steve Massey announced in October that he plans to resign June 30.
Board chairman Curt Rebelein said working with a search firm would be valuable for the board, which has been mostly deadlocked 3-3 since Hagglund’s resignation.
“I think it will bring a much needed unity, some cohesiveness, and rebuild some trust,” Rebelein said. “There’s obvious trust issues that we all have with one another in one capacity or another, so I see tremendous value there, not just in picking the next executive to lead the district and work with us to do that, but in making this unit a little bit more functional, a little bit more productive and being able to get some work done rather than failing on these 3-to-3 votes all the time.”
Being deadlocked “causes damage to the district … and (is) ultimately going to cause damage to the students and their experience, and I don’t want to see that happen,” Rebelein said.
Although some board members said they were in favor of the Minnesota School Board Association leading the search, the board voted unanimously to hire Ray & Associates.
FYI
The deadline for applying for the open seat on the Forest Lake Area School Board is 4 p.m. March 16. Information about the school board and the vacancy application is available by contacting Joy Mouch at jmouch@flaschools.org or 651-982-8104. Applications also may be picked up at the school district office during business hours. Questions can be directed to board members at schoolboard@flaschools.org or at 651-982-8104.
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