Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
The Colfax School District board has chosen three candidates to interview for its superintendent position.
The board arrived at the decision at the conclusion of a three-and-a-half hour special meeting March 2.
It was the first time the board had a look at the 17 applications received.
The board’s consultant on the hiring search, Dr. Dennis Ray of Northwest Leadership Associates, was there to guide them in the process.
He also recommended candidates, which lined up fairly closely with the board’s choice, said board member David Nails.
“Those guys kind of know the pulse of administrators,” he said.
The three candidates who will appear in Colfax March 19 for a day of interviews are Mike Hamilton, Principal at Kalama Middle School/High School; Steve McCullough, Superintendent at Curlew School District, and Jerry Pugh, interim Superin-tendent of Chewelah School District.
None of the 17 applicants have been eliminated at this point.
“I think there were more good ones than just the three,” Nails said. “I just don’t know that you can interview five or six, as it pushes it to a two-day process. I felt there were four great candidates.”
Also discussed at the meeting was a potential change to Ray’s usual process of having the candidates’ complete a writing exercise as part of the day of interviewing. This may be replaced by appearing in front of a panel of students.
The day of interviews will include open public forums that evening.
“I encourage the public to participate,” said Nails. “We want the community’s input. I think this is a really important position in our district.”
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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