Grant school board initiates search for new superintendent

Published 7:15 am Wednesday, November 24, 2021

JOHN DAY — The task of finding the next superintendent of Grant School District No. 3 started this week.

While Superintendent Bret Uptmor is not retiring until the end of the school year in June, there is no time to waste in starting the search for his replacement, according to members of the Coalition of Oregon School Administrators, the outside agency the school board tapped to conduct the search and recruit candidates.

One of the search firm representatives told the board during its Wednesday, Nov. 17, meeting that 18 school districts across the state would be looking to fill open superintendent positions in the next school year.

“You really, definitely want to get in front of this,” the representative told the board via Zoom during the meeting.

The competition for superintendent candidates could be challenging. While there are likely to be enough applicants, other school districts will be vying for their attention as well.

Other potential hurdles that could be challenging include conducting a search during a pandemic, mask and vaccine mandates, and a countywide housing shortage.

The board and the search firm representatives hammered out a timeline on Wednesday.

The search firm will meet with focus groups and review survey data to get the “ideal superintendent profile.” Then, the firm will confer with the district in a special board meeting on Dec. 15 at 5:30 p.m. and present those findings.

The recruitment window will run from Dec. 16 to Jan. 18. Preliminary interviews will include two members of the search firm. From there, the board will meet with the search firm in what is dubbed a “slate meeting,” where the board members decide who they will interview.

Part of that meeting will be in a closed-door executive session, while the decisions the board will need to make around the interview process will be made in an open session. That said, the board agreed to keep the names of the top-tier candidates who they interview confidential.

The board plans to begin the first round of interviews on Feb. 11 and interview finalists on Feb. 18. On March 1, board members are scheduled to meet to determine the top finalists and then vote on their selection in an open session on March 9. The new superintendent is scheduled to start work on July 1.