Lincoln Schools set to interview five superintendent candidates

The Lincoln School Board is currently considering five applicants for the position of Lincoln Schools Superintendent.

In January, the board contracted with the Montana School Board Association to aid in a candidate search for two separate positions that will be made available by the impending retirement of Lincoln Schools Principal/Superintendent Carla Anderson.

"We work with a couple of lawyers, and they coach us on the different steps to take," Lincoln School Board President Aaron Birkholz said of the MSBA's role. "They're the ones that put it out there and they do all of the background checks and...vet the applicants before they send them to us."

Dropping enrollment and a tight budget led to the board's decision to combine the roles of Superintendent and Principal in 2015. Now, a rise in enrollment, the establishment of a pre-school program and a roomier budget thanks to a substantial literacy grant has made it possible for the board to once again separate the two positions, contingent on the applicants they receive. With the MSBA's help they've advertised for both a superintendent and a principal/teacher to step into Anderson's shoes in the fall of 2019.

The pool of Superintendent hopefuls was initially narrowed down to six candidates, one of whom has since withdrawn their application, Birkholz said. The board is slated to begin interviews of the remaining five candidates at 9 a.m. March 1, in a series of interviews open to the public that will take place in the school library.

The new Superintendent will in turn have a voice in the selection of a candidate to fill the combined Principal and part-time teacher position. The posting for that position is still open to applicants.

"I know that we want somebody that is experienced in that kind of situation," Birkholz said of the combined principal/teacher role. "It's not a full-time principal position, and we don't even know what teaching positions are going to be open...so I imagine the principal position won't be filled until, I'm guessing, sometime around the end of the school year."

The board has already advertised for the position of science teacher, following notification of longtime Lincoln Schools science teacher George Pierce's intent to retire at the end of this school year.

Birkholz said none of the individuals who applied for the Superintendent position are from Lincoln.