Five to interview for superintendency

Five candidates will be interviewed for the Sisters school superintendent position. The Sisters School Board invited two others who declined to be interviewed.

The school board acted on the recommendation of the Superintendent Screening Committee. The committee consists of staff, administrators, the five school board members, one student and district residents.

After reading the files of all 21 applicants, the committee members narrowed the field to seven.

Betsy Miller-Jones, the Oregon School Boards Association consultant overseeing the search explained why only five of the seven candidates are interviewing.

"It is very normal this time of year with lots of searches open ... to have one or two take other positions," she said. "Several of your candidates were involved in other searches. Sisters is very fortunate. Several of the candidates are really focused only on Sisters."

Miller-Jones told The Nugget that she hopes she has been clear in her earlier public discussions that "some of the turmoil (the Sisters School District has experienced) over the last year or two does make Sisters a little more problematic for candidates than some other districts - and yet Sisters is a very attractive place."

She said, "People just have to balance that out. They do read the press. There's been issues over the last year or so and there still are issues. That's just part of life, but it does impact candidates."

According to Miller-Jones, all five candidates are very strong. Both men and women are vying for the position.

"I am very pleased with the people who have applied and have been selected for interviews," Miller-Jones said.

Members of the Sisters School Board will interview the five candidates in closed Executive Sessions, March 21-24. Screening committee members may attend the interviews, although they must keep all information that transpires confidential. Executive sessions, in general, are not open to the public. The law allows the press to attend; however, they may not report on topics discussed.

Miller-Jones encourages school boards to contact candidates' references prior to the first interviews.

"You try to get the references so you don't end up with finalists who have known problems," she said.

After conducting its fifth interview on Saturday, March 24, board members will choose one or more finalist candidates.

"We are looking to narrow down the group," Miller-Jones said.

The board has discretion, depending upon the strength of the first interviews, regarding the number of finalists it chooses. Board members will next visit the finalists' districts, and finalists will come back to Sisters, visiting both the schools and the community.

Miller-Jones told The Nugget that some boards conduct a site visit only for the candidate who is their first choice. If the site visit is positive, the board will have the individual spend some time in their district and, if satisfied, will offer that person a contract without conducting site visits for their other candidates.

"The more classic method and the one with which I am the most comfortable is they do site visits to two or even three finalist candidates' districts, and then at the end of that they decide if they want to invite one, two or three back to Sisters for at least a full day and then another interview," Miller-Jones said.

The board would then offer a contract to its top contender.

"We don't ever want a district to sort of settle for the best of what there is," said Miller-Jones.

If the district is not satisfied, the board could either re-open and advertise its vacancy again or appoint an interim superintendent.