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Firm selected for Escanaba superintendent search, hiring

ESCANABA — A firm was selected to assist the Escanaba School Board in hiring a superintendent during its regular meeting Monday.

Board members unanimously approved hiring the Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB) as the acting firm to help fill the position. Board Vice President James Hermans was not present at the meeting.

Over the past few months, board members have thoroughly discussed the search for a firm to aid them in hiring for the full time position, basing their choices on timeline of hire and cost to the district.

Acting Superintendent Steve Martin provided the board with four finalists at the committee of the whole meeting on Feb. 13. The choices were Ray and Associates, MASB, Hartman Consulting and Michigan Leadership Institute (MLI). The cost for each firm was debated, with Ray and Associates coming in at $23,000, MASB – $6,200, Hartman Consulting – $7,500 and MLI costing roughly $5,700.

During Monday’s meeting, Board President Dan Flynn had board members rank the firms from their highest to lowest choice. MASB came out as the top pick, while Ray and Associates was ranked last, cutting the choice from the list of finalists.

“I find Ray and Associates is just way too expensive for our district,” said Trustee Kathleen Jensen, noting the firm does more work than what the Escanaba School District needs in order to hire a new superintendent.

Jensen explained that during her research, she found MASB has worked with over 19 school districts within the Upper Peninsula to find a superintendent at least one time, while MLI has worked with about three districts that Jensen recognized.

“It looks like MASB has the most experience with our area,” Jensen said.

Trustee Cathy Wilson agreed, but said there were some positives to Hartman Consulting, which is based in Lansing but has a representative for the firm in the Upper Peninsula. She added this was an “attractive difference” between Hartman and the rest of the firms.

Wilson also mentioned that hiring in the U.P. can be difficult, explaining she had encountered this conversation with someone at a leadership conference for school board members in Detroit this past fall. She found that to be “discouraging” and something to keep as a concern.

Treasurer Robert LaFave agreed, noting the U.P. can “not a sunshine area” sometimes, especially if the new candidate is someone not familiar with the climate or region.

Flynn added the selection of a firm is something that needs to be done and done correctly.

“This is serious money. We want to get this right,” said Flynn. “There’s some differences in price, but I think it’s worthwhile.”

In other business, board members unanimously accepted a donation of “up to $91,000” from the Eskymo Fan Club that will be used for a scoreboard at the high school football field. The fan club, which presented the donation and its agreement to the board during the Feb. 13 meeting, will use the money towards upgrading the football’s scoreboard and any future maintenance that may come with it.

The board also approved the purchase of two new school buses that will be equipped with orthopedic adaptation and wheelchair lifts for the 2017-18 school year.

The next meeting will be a committee of the whole meeting on March 13.

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