Community Gathers to Talk About Lakeville's Superintendent Search

Community members shared their concerns and voiced their opinions Thursday evening at a public forum concerning the .

Ten residents showed up to the forum, which was run by Associate Dr. Robert Ostlund. SEC was chosen by the Lakeville School Board in early May to conduct the search for outgoing Superintendent Gary Amoroso, who will be leaving his position at the end of June.

The School Board was not present at the forum.

The input meeting was put together to develop a list of attributes or qualities that the community wishes to see in the new superintendent, Ostlund said. SEC will then take what was shared and compile it to help them in the recruiting process.

Some things are already known.

In SEC's first meeting with the Lakeville School Board on May 18, Kenneth Dragseth advised the board to steer clear of severance packages.

Dragseth said the motivation for such a move is in response to the vocal public outcry over Amoroso’s $360,000 retirement package,

Tuesday's forum started with Ostlund explaining how the search process will be conducted, saying that most of the people who will become candidates will be recruited by SEC. The firm will search out people who aren’t necessarily looking for the position but would be a great fit for the leadership role, Ostlund said. Intentional recruiting, not just receiving applications, will also play an important role as the search plays out during the summer, he said.

“Candidates are a lot more cautious in this economy,” Ostlund said. “So recruiting is that much more critical.”

Ostlund also discussed questions of compensation and benefits during the meeting. He stated that compensation will need to be regionally competitive, which allows the school district a range of around $10,000-$15,000 to play with when negotiating a contract with a potential replacement.

But much of the discussion revolved back to the topic of severance packages.

Many residents in attendance said expressed a need for more financial responsibility from the School Board.

Ostlund said that SEC will be consulting the School Board on salary issues involving the candidate to replace Amoroso, but the final decision on the contract, including a severance, will be made by the School Board.

After speaking about the financial situation that the district now finds itself in, the group took turns speaking about what they would like to see in the new leader of Lakeville's schools. Lorie Bode, a mother of middle school and elementary students, expressed some qualities she would like to see in a new superintendent.

“The new superintendent should know the programs we can cut and the ones we can’t,” Bode said. “They need to establish a set of non-negotiables that are necessary to produce a well rounded student.”

The forum participants also discussed hiring a straight-shooting, visionary leader who is not afraid to do what is best for the district, even if it’s not popular. They also expressed the need for more effective communication, accountability, and transparency from the new superintendent and his administration. All of these qualities were written down for use later.

SEC plans on having five to seven candidates proposed to the School Board on July 7. The board will then conduct intensive interviews of the candidates on July 12, after which the board will narrow down the proposed candidates to two or three that are seen as the best. At this point, there will be another public forum where the community will be able to further questions the finalists and give their input.

According to Ostlund, there have only been a few people interested in the position so far, but the search has not officially gotten underway. But Ostlund expressed to the members of the forum that it only takes five highly qualified candidates to be interested to successfully fill the position and ensure a productive future for the Lakeville school district.