Five finalists named as South Central seeks administrator

BONESTEEL — Five finalists have been named in South Central’s search for the next superintendent/K-12 principal.

All five finalists are in-state, but one of them has superintendent experience at a school district several miles outside of the Twin Cities.

Finalists are Greg East, of Sioux Falls, superintendent in 2008-09 at Lester Prairie Public Schools in Lester Prairie, Minn.; Keith McVay, Smee superintendent for five years in Wakpala and former Marion superintendent; Beverly Myer, Ipswich superintendent for two years; Tim Rhead, K-12 principal at South Central for one year; and Jesse Sealey, Gayville-Volin elementary principal for four years.

The new administrator will succeed Erik Person, who has served as joint superintendent for Burke and South Central for five years.

Burke School Board members decided to end the joint superintendent agreement with South Central in December after that board rejected a plan for Burke to dissolve and join South Central last fall.

South Central’s board started seeking applications on the Associated School Boards of South Dakota’s Teacher Placement Center page online, Business Manager Clara Waterbury said. The board offered a salary range between $65,000 and $75,000, depending on qualifications and experience.

Twenty-three candidates submitted applications by the Feb. 11 deadline, she said. The field of applicants hailed from South Dakota, Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Minnesota, Montana and Nebraska.

The board conducted a special meeting on Feb. 17 to narrow the field of candidates to the current five, Waterbury said.

School board members plan to conduct interviews with finalists this week, she said.

Board President Tony Vogt said the members want a superintendent/principal who is experienced with financial matters, grant writing and gets along well with people and the community.

Vogt said he thought the field of candidates was fairly good.

“When we get them all interviewed, we’ll compare notes and see how everybody feels about certain people,” he said.

The board wants to make a decision and have an offer accepted by its March 14 meeting.

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