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Two days of interviews with the three finalists for superintendent of schools came to naught when the clear favorite withdrew his name from consideration.

Jeff Perry was reportedly the candidate who drew the most support from the school board, two interview panels and the citizens who attended an open house at the close of the interviews last Saturday.

School board members met Monday, April 23, to consider their options. At the conclusion of the special meeting Tom Mingen, president of the school board, issued a press release in which he stated, "The board decided that the other two candidates were not the right fit for the district, and did not offer them the position.

"Throughout this process the board has taken the position that if we did not find the right candidate, then we would pass, rather than placing an individual that we felt could not move our district forward into the future," he continued.

Mingen said the board discussed the possibility of re-advertising the position, but given the cyclical movement of candidates, who generally move at the end of the school year, did not feel the pool of applicants was such that they would get the best candidates this late in the school year. Their opinion was confirmed by the Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB), which has assisted in the search.

Instead, Mingen said the school board plans to move forward with an effort to consolidate the administrative staff by hiring an assistant superintendent.

"We intend to reorganize some of the activities at the district office, and in doing this we plan on creating the position of assistant superintendent," he explained in the press release. "Our plan is to move forward with filling this position, and then plan on using that assistant superintendent to fill in as interim superintendent until the board names a permanent superintendent. At this point, we are sure that this assistant superintendent will be the interim superintendent until at least early next year, from the time Jerre Doss leaves at the end of June."

The school board has already begun advertising for an assistant superintendent, with the deadline for applications to be May 3. The school board will meet on May 5 to select three finalists. Interviews are scheduled May 7.

Mingen said he hopes there will be a lot of interest from current district employees, as well as from applicants outside the area.

"I truly realize that this direction is not the one hoped for by many employees, but I want to re-emphasize that the board prefers to take this direction rather than placing someone in the position that is not right for the district."

He added that the five school board members acted in unison.

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