MAPS Superintendent post attracts 12 applicants

Merrill Area Public Schools has received 12 applications for the open Superintendent position. The application deadline was Jan. 15. The MAPS Board of Education met Monday night to review the applications and determine interview questions.

The board chose five applicants to invite for interviews. The first round of interviews will be held Feb. 5 and 6.

The superintendent position has been vacant since the departure of Lisa Snyder, who resigned in 2011 to take the superintendent job in Lakeville, MN. Other administrators have since performed superintendent duties on an interim basis.

Superintendent search consultant Don Stevens, who has served as interim MAPS superintendent since last July, said he wasn't disappointed with the number of applicants.

"I've been part of this search life for 12 years now," he said. "The people I've been talking to say 12-15 is not a small number anymore. The number of people applying for these jobs is small and shrinking."

Through his business, SCF Educational Consultants, Stevens was involved in the hiring process that brought Snyder to Merrill in 2009. After Snyder's resignation, he headed another search that ended with a job offer last February. The candidate ultimately chose to stay at his job with the Marshfield school district. A subsequent posting of the job did not yield any viable candidates.

Stevens said he anticipates final interviews of candidates on Feb. 18.

"The ideal goal would be to have a contract approved at the Feb. 25 board meeting," he said.

If all goes as planned, the new superintendent would start work in Merrill on July 1.

Stevens said he's pleased with the quality of the applicants this time around, including some with direct experience as superintendents.

"We have varying kinds of applicants," he said. "Those that I would consider to be the top candidates have the qualifications to do this job."