Seven vie for superintendent job

Seven "semi-finalist" candidates will vie for the job of Sisters' school superintendent.

The Sisters School Board decided Monday night to interview all seven candidates Friday and Saturday, March 14 and 15.

The board also adopted a calendar that will start the 2003-04 school year on September 15, late enough for the new high school to receive students.

The seven superintendent candidates received the highest ratings from a search committee that spent much of last week going over the 24 applications the position has attracted. The committee, led by School Board Chairman Jeff Smith, includes the five board members and 11 other citizens.

The board will conduct the interviews, with other members of the search committee invited to attend but not to ask questions. This step is expected to winnow the field to two or three finalists, who will then be invited for a round of open, public appearances.

The search is being conducted to find a replacement for Superintendent Steve Swisher, who is retiring in April but will continue to work for a couple of months to help with the transition.

The semi-finalists are: Jack Adams, superintendent of Colville schools in Colville, Washington; Tim Comfort, principal of Sisters Elementary School; Yvonne Curtis, principal of Terrebonne Elementary School; Judy Delahut, director of the Initial Administrator Licensure Program at the University of Oregon; Charles Hellman, superintendent of Rogue River schools; Doug Jantzi, curriculum and assessment director for Central Point schools, and Wayne Kostur, superintendent of Rainier schools.

In approving a calendar for the coming year, the board was heartened by reports that mild winter weather has put construction of the new high school so far ahead of schedule that it should be possible to occupy the building in mid-September. Board members agreed that it would be better to occupy the school at the beginning of the year rather than moving in after classes have begun.

The adopted schedule will open school later than usual, on September 15, but make up for the lost time by cutting spring vacation to a single week. Christmas vacation would remain two weeks long.