NV, CAM inch closer to selecting superintendent

The Nodaway Valley and Cumberland-Anita-Massena school boards met Monday, March 24 at Nodaway Valley Middle School in Fontanelle to jointly look at those who have applied to be the next shared superintendent for both districts.

The meeting was held in closed session due to the conversation being directly related to applicants.

Nodaway Valley School Board President Kristen Jensen said she could share that there were 13 applicants reviewed, with one additional candidate that backed out ahead of time. The list has now been pared down to six semifinalists.

Jensen said the six semifinalists will now submit to the district’s search firm, McPherson and Jacobson, a series of videos that board members from NV and CAM will be able to review. This will help the boards determine their three finalists, who will be chosen in a joint, closed meeting Monday, March 31 at CAM Elementary School in Massena.

Monday, April 7, the three finalists will be in the two districts for tours and interviews. Three groups who will interview finalists will contain community members, students, support staff, teachers and administrators. After these interviews take place, each finalist will meet with the boards.

“That way the finalists won’t know who they’re addressing. It will just be a mix of everybody,” Jensen said. “Everyone has equal stake then in the interview process [this way].”

The boards are very pleased with the response they received in the number of people who applied for the position.

“I feel the community is in good hands [with whoever we hire]. Both boards felt good about the broad spectrum of applicants. Some have a lot of superintendent experiences and others have a lot of principal or special education experience,” Jensen said. “We have a wide variety to pick from. We’ll be able to find a very good candidate for both districts.”

McPherson and Jacobson plans to be involved in helping to bring on whoever the districts choose to be their next superintendent through a series of meetings after the hire.