After meeting in executive session to discuss negotiating strategies, the Delta County School Board set the minimum salary for the district's next superintendent at $105,000. That salary will be incorporated into a brochure outlining the vacancy, a brochure which will be distributed this week to launch the application process.

The deadline for applications is March 15. Screening of the candidates will be conducted by the school board the following week. After background checks, a list of finalists will be compiled and released to the public on March 29. Interviews will be scheduled in April.

Prospective superintendents interested in relocating to the Western Slope will have several choices, noted Bob Cito, of the Colorado Association of School Boards. CASB has been contracted to assist with the search process. Cito said vacancies have also been posted in Durango, Cortez and Glenwood Springs.

He anticipates a pool of 15 to 20 candidates. The salary will be one factor considered by applicants. Another is the economy, and whether they can afford to sell a home that may have lost value over the past few years.

In 2005, when a similar search was conducted, the school board offered a minimum salary of $105,000 with a competitive benefits package. Cortez is advertising a minimum salary of $115,000. Cito did not know the salaries being offered in Glenwood Springs and Durango, but said those superintendents are currently earning $145,265 and $155,250, respectively. He said he believes Montrose offered $145,000 when that school district selected a new superintendent last year.

Mike McMillan, former Delta County superintendent, was earning a salary in the $125,000 to $130,000 range.