Havre schools look for input while searching for superintendent

The Montana School Boards Association has been commissioned by Havre Public Schools to handle the ongoing search for a new district superintendent, and has recently put out a survey to the public asking for what they want to see in applicants for the position.

The survey can be found at https://www.blueponyk12.com, and it asks about the capacity the person is responding in, their priorities and their desires in an applicant.

Long-time Superintendent Andy Carlson resigned in June, and his assistant superintendent, Craig Mueller, accepted the position of interim superintendent effective July 1.

Havre Public Schools District Clerk Shanna Flores said the survey provided by the school board association and will be helpful in finding the best candidate to fill the position left by Carlson.

“The more (responses) we get, the more helpful it will be,” Flores said.

Flores said the the school boards association, which also acts as the district’s legal counsel, will also handle the vetting process for applicants, and applications will need to be submitted by March 11 at 4 p.m.

Minimum qualifications for the position are a masters degree or better in school administration or information demonstrating the ability to obtain such a certificate, a valid Montana Administrators Certification with appropriate administrative endorsements on hire, and a minimum of 5 years experience in school administration.

Preferred qualifications for the position also include experience as a school district principal or superintendent and experience working with Montana special education laws, policies and regulations.

Applications for the position are available at Montana School Board Association’s website at https://www.mtsba.org/currentsuptopenings, along with more information about the position.

Flores said the school board association is handling the majority of the search process so she doesn’t know 100 percent where things stand at this moment, but as far as she heard no applicants have come forward yet, a situation likely to change in the near future.

“The last I knew, we didn’t have any applicants but they don’t expect to have any until we are closer to the closing date,” she said.

When asked what would happen if there were no applicants by the March 11 she jokingly said, “I’ll turn in my resignation.”

Flores said it is a possibility that no one will apply, but her experiences working with Montana School Board Association suggests that is unlikely.

“I was in Chinook prior to being in Havre and we had a superintendent for 23 plus years, and when we opened it up we did the MTSBA search as well and we had, I want to say, 12 applicants.”