Trustees plan to interview 6 applicants for Seymour superintendent

UPDATED AT 5:59 p.m. WEDNESDAY:

Seymour Community Schools Board President Martha McIntire said Wednesday afternoon that the school board will meet in exeuctive session at 1:30 p.m. Friday at the Community Foundation of Jackson County building, 107 Community Drive, Seymour.

The purpose of the executive session is to "receive information about and interview prospective employees," according to a letter notifying the public of the closed session.

Notice of closed sessions must be made within 48 hours of the meetings, under Indiana's Open Door Law.

ORIGINAL POST AT 11:02 a.m. WEDNESDAY:

Seymour Community Schools trustees have selected six superintendent candidates to interview.

That number could change, however, as the selection process continues, school board President Martha McIntire said this morning.

"We don't want to put ourselves in a box with that number, because we don't know what will happen and we may have to interview more," she said.

Trustees met in executive or closed session Tuesday morning with representatives from Indiana State, Ball State, Indiana and Purdue universities to review 12 applications for the position.

Superintendent Robert Schmielau will retire at the end of this school year, after serving the district for seven years.

Executive sessions are closed to the public and press. Indiana's Open Door Law allows for executive sessions to discuss job applicants.

"It was a good meeting," McIntire said. "We have some excellent candidates."

The next step, McIntire said, is bringing those candidates in for interviews.

"We'll be doing that as soon as possible," she said.

Trustees met with college representatives first to get their input on the applicants, McIntire added.

"They know these people and are familiar with the school systems they work for, so they were able to tell us what has been going on under their leadership," she said.

McIntire wasn't the only one involved in the meeting as all school trustees attended.

Trustee Stu Silver said he was pleased with the process so far, this being his first with a search for a superintendent.

"I think we got a good pool, from what I saw," he said. "But it's too early in the preliminary stages to know anything. I can't say much because I haven't met any of them yet."

Silver said he was happy with the number of applications the corporation received.

"I didn't really know what to expect, but for as many superintendent openings there are in the state of Indiana, I think we got a pretty good number."

But quality, not quantity, is what is most important, Silver added.

Although there were no local applicants, Silver said he was not disappointed.

"Everybody had a chance to put their application in," he said.

The selection process will continue with interviews through April, and trustees say they hope to have a new superintendent chosen by late June or early July.

"Our goal is to get the best candidate we can before someone else does," Silver said. "We don't want to rush things though because it's a very important decision. But I think we are ahead in the process and right where we need to be."

Trustee Mickey Beck referred questions to McIntire.