Decorah school board discusses hiring a search firm to fill the upcoming superintendent vaccancy

Decorah school board president Ron Fadness has been working with the Iowa Association of School Boards to gather information and recommendations for hiring a search firm for Decorah's district superintendent position. The position will become available when superintendent Michael Haluska retires at the end of the 2018-2019 school year.

Fadness reports the board has received proposals from 2 search firms so far, and anticipates possibly hearing from 1 or 2 more. A special meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, September 26, for the board to hear formal presentations from the potential search firms. After the presentations, the board will make a decision on which search firm to hire.

Fadness says many people have told him, "You'd be crazy not to hire a search firm." Haluska agreed and said hiring a search firm will save the board a lot of time.

Once a search firm is hired, Fadness expects the firm to gather input from Decorah teachers and community members during the month of October, and then use that information to create a formal job description and posting by November. Potential candidates will be interviewed in January, and a new superintendent could be named by February.