http://www.yankton.net/articles/2013/02/25/community/doc512af3b01b136566448452.txt

Firm Focused On Recruitment In Search For YSD Superintendent

andrew.atwal@yankton.net

The Yankton School District (YSD) school board recently entered into an agreement with Dakota Educational Consulting. The agreement allows the consulting firm to lead the search for YSD’s next superintendent.

Dakota Educational Consulting has previously led administrative searches for districts across the region, including in Sioux Valley, Canistota, Rock Valley and Storm Lake, among others. The firm is currently leading searches in other districts, including Viborg-Hurley and Aberdeen Roncalli.

Tom Oster and Dr. Rick Melmer head the two-year-old consulting group, and both have an extensive background in education across the region. Oster currently serves as superintendent at Sioux Valley schools, was a superintendent in Avon and served as the Secretary of Education for South Dakota. Melmer currently is the dean of the College of Education at University of South Dakota, has been the South Dakota Secretary of Education and was a superintendent for Watertown schools and the Sioux Center school district.

The group will focus on recruitment as it conducts Yankton’s superintendent search.

“We will spend a lot of time over the next few weeks contacting potential candidates, discussing the position and giving candidates information about the school district and the community,” Melmer said. “Our group will also help facilitate the interview process and help narrow down the applicants for the board to review.”

He added that he is not aware of other firms with which the board negotiated to handle the search, but cost could have been a reason why his group was chosen. The board will pay Dakota Educational Consulting $8,000 for search services.

“Tom (Oster) and I are connected throughout South Dakota and the region, and now, a lot of folks in education as well,” Melmer said. “We have both been with the Department of Education and have been superintendents in the state, which allowed us to make connections in education.”

Another reason why the firm may have been chosen, according to Melmer, is because of the nature of its proposal.

“All of the board members have jobs or lives outside of their work at the board, many of them probably don’t have the time to make contacts, call recruits, answer questions about the application process because they’re already busy in their daily lives,” he said. “Many of the members on the board probably don’t have the connections Tom (Oster) and I have because board members, generally, live in the private sector. Oster and I are well networked in the state and region.”

The application and recruitment phase for Yankton will be open until around March 15.

“I don’t think there are very many drawbacks to the timeline the school board has in place,” Melmer said. “It’s early enough that the district will get good candidates for the position.”

He added that there are a number of smaller districts in the area looking for superintendents, but Yankton differentiates itself because of its larger size.

“Either candidates are ready for Yankton School District or they’re not,” Melmer said. “The district is a good size compared to others that are also looking for a superintendent.”

One of the strategies the firm will use comes through the contacts Oster and Melmer have made in education across the region.

“We ask the people we know in education and call other names around the state and region and ask if they know anyone who might be interested in the job opening,” Melmer said. “We will follow up with the names we receive and ask if they’re interested in the position. There will also be natural candidates that apply through the postings we have online.”

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal