School board interested in interviewing search firms in January

Editor’s Note: This article is corrected online to reflect Susan Stevens as vice president of the new Nodaway Valley board. That was stated incorrectly in the print edition.

Three search firms who submitted information to the Nodaway Valley School Board and can help them find their next superintendent will likely be interviewed during the group’s Jan. 15 meeting.

The district received overview of expected services from Grundmeyer Leader Services of Huxley; McPherson and Jacobson of Omaha, Nebraska and EDWise, LLC of Alta.

“There are differences. You’ve got anything from $14,500, the next one is $10,550 and the last one is $7,500, plus expenses for mileage and things like that,” Board President Kristen Jensen said. “So, there are things to consider on the cost. Of course, if you share [with another district] you can pass some of that cost on [to that district].”

Jensen explained stakeholder input seems to be a regular aspect of any firm helping a school find a new superintendent, whether that be through surveys or community member groups who could give input.

Two of the three firms have expressed that Nodaway Valley should be moving faster in their process to find a new superintendent, however Jensen told the rest of the board to not be alarmed at this. She said the district needs to take its time to find its next leader.

“We have another district we need to be considerate of. We have to have those conversations. We can look to approve a firm in January,” Jensen said. She was planning to send the three proposals to CAM, which re-elected board officers recently with Cara Murphy taking the lead from previous Board President Todd McKee.

Jensen was re-elected Nodaway Valley Board President with Susan Stevens named Vice President, as part of an organizational meeting also held last week.

Nodaway Valley has shared a superintendent and other positions with Cumberland-Anita-Massena (CAM) for awhile now — the superintendent position since 2014 and other positions were added to the sharing after that. There are financial savings for any district that operational shares.

Nodaway Valley’s school board considered the termination of Superintendent Paul Croghan’s contract, effective June 30, 2025, during their November meeting and passed the measure on a 3-2 vote, Jensen making the motion and voting for it, along with Molly Herrick and Daniel Shilling, with Susan Stevens and Adam Woosley voting against it.

This month, the board voted to actually terminate the contract, effective the same date, with the same people voting the same way, as a continuation of last month’s action after Croghan did not request a hearing.

The January meeting has been set for that day because of public hearing requirements in the whole grade sharing process with Orient-Macksburg.