January 14, 2022

Decorah, IA – The Decorah Schools Board of Education would like to provide an update on the superintendent hiring process. The board recently met with Dr. Trent Grundmeyer and Roger Wilcox with Grundmeyer Leader Services to review the candidate pool. The position was posted from December l to January 2 and resulted in nineteen candidates.
The candidate pool included one out-of-state candidate. There were seventeen male candidates and two female candidates. Five of the candidates hold a terminal degree (Ed.D. or Ph.D.), while nine have three or more years of administrative experience.
All nineteen candidates were presented to the Board of Education in closed session on January 11. After the review of candidates’ application materials, references, licensure verification, and social media, five candidates were selected for screening interviews that will take place on January 26. The screening process will allow the board to further evaluate the candidates’ qualifications for the position and narrow the process to three finalists.
The search consultants will set up and facilitate the screening interviews and finalists will be publicly named shortly after the screening interviews take place.
The desired qualifications that were identified from the stakeholder survey will continue to drive the hiring process. Those desired qualifications included:

• Is approachable, accessible, and welcoming
• Recruits, hires, supports, develops, and retains effective staff members
• Demonstrates collaborative leadership
• Demonstrates ethics and integrity
• Promotes a community of care and support for students
• Possesses strong communication skills
• Follows through on tasks and responsibilities
• Builds community and school relations
• Strong instructional leader

The board will soon reach out to community members to serve on the team conducting formal interviews with the finalists, which will take place on Monday, Feb. 7. The new superintendent will begin leading the Decorah Community Schools effective July l, 2022.