Fairfield school board could name new superintendent by end of February

FAIRFIELD – The Fairfield Community School District Board of Directors hopes to hire a superintendent by the end of the month after receiving 23 applications for the position.

Fairfield school board President Tai Ward said the large number of applicants came as a surprise to GR Recruiting, the firm hired by the board to assist in its superintendent search. Linda Brock, an educational search associate for GR Recruiting, said the school district got 30 applicants during the last superintendent search, but she was only expecting to get half that many applicants this time around because of the changing job market.

Ward said the district’s financial officer, Evan Martin, told the board that the only school district in Iowa that got more superintendent applications than Fairfield was Norwalk.

“It shows we are a desirable job for a lot of people,” Ward said. “When you look around the state, 15-18 applications is the norm, so we were happy to get 23.”

Brock has already performed a reference check and background check on the applicants, and she will present her top eight contenders to the board during its meeting Monday night, Feb. 12. In fact, she recorded video interviews with those eight applicants where they’re answering questions about themselves, and the board will have a chance to view them during its closed session.

“I’m pumped because Linda said we’ll have a hard decision on our hands, which means that we’ve got some really good candidates,” Ward said.

Once the board has a chance to review all the applications and hear from Brock about her recommendations, they will whittle the applicant pool down to four, and interview those people the week of Feb. 19. Ward said the board hopes to do those interviews in-person but might do some over Zoom if the applicant lives too far away.

After the final four are interviewed, the board will select two finalists, and make their names public. During the week of Feb. 23, the finalists will be invited to Fairfield where they will get a chance to tour the schools and meet with administrators.

“They’ll get to find out everything Fairfield has to offer,” Ward said.

The board will schedule a public townhall where the two finalists will answer questions. Ward said the questions will come from the committee of stakeholders that was formed in November, which came up with a list of qualities it wanted in a superintendent. After the townhall, the board will go into closed session to choose which candidate it wants to hire. The superintendent’s contract would begin on July 1, 2024.

The board’s previous superintendent was Laurie Noll, who served for nine years until her retirement last summer. Since then, the board appointed Stephanie Mishler to serve as the district’s interim superintendent. Mishler joined the Fairfield Community School District in 2018 as the high school’s associate principal. In 2022, she became the district’s curriculum director.

Ward said the board understands the important role the superintendent plays in the district’s success.

“Getting a new superintendent will help us address the issues we’re having,” he said. “We have budget issues due to declining enrollment, which is a problem throughout rural Iowa.”

More and more families are leaving rural Iowa for the state’s metros. In fact, of Iowa’s 328 public schools, 175 of them lost enrollment last year.

“I view a new superintendent as a way to energize our district, to get someone who can pull enrollment back into the district and make Fairfield’s finances g better,” Ward said. “We’re all working toward being one of the best schools in Southeast Iowa.”

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Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com