Superintendent search to start soon

By Kevin O’Brien

Before selecting someone to replace retiring superintendent Rick Parks, the Marathon School District will be asking students, staff and community members what they’re looking for in a district leader.

On Monday, Jan. 20, Parks said a survey will go out to district staff and residents asking for input on the superintendent search. A link will be available at www.marathon.k12. wi.us, under the Community dropdown menu, and remain open until Feb. 6.

Also, between, Jan. 27 and Feb. 2, the district will be hosting focus groups with faculty at all of its schools and with high school students selected by district staff.

At 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 27, the public is invited to a forum in the Marathon High School auditorium to discuss what parents and other community members would like to see when it comes to a new superintendent.

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For those who are unable to attend that hearing or prefer to participate remotely, a Zoom meeting will be held at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 2 (the link is on the website).

The district is working with Hazard, Young, Attea (HYA) Associates, a firm that specializes in recruiting superintendents. The team from HYA will be led by Scott Winch, former superintendent of the Stratford School District, and Mike Richie, a retired superintendent who worked at the Northland Pines District for years.

Board members met with Winch at a special meeting last Wednesday morning and finalized a timeline for posting the job opening, scheduling focus group meetings and developing a “leadership profile” that will be used to guide the interview process.

Parks said the job posting “went live” on Monday on several websites, including the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators. The job opening will remain posted until Feb. 27, which is the deadline for those wishing to apply.

Based on the feedback it gets from the forums later this month, HYA will present a district leadership profile report to the school board at its Feb. 12 meeting. A month later, on March 12, HYA will present a slate of applicants to the board, and a first round of interviews will be conducted on March 17 and 18.

Final interviews are slated for April 7, when each of the finalists will get a chance to tour the district. Following background checks, Parks said the goal is for the school board to hire his replacement at its April 9 meeting. That person swill start on July 1.