Superintendent position scaled back

The Wrenshall school board had planned to interview three full-time candidates for its superintendent vacancy on the first day in May.

But a recommendation Tuesday from the board’s budget committee spoiled the plan, recommending pursuit of a part-time superintendent to replace retiring Kim Belcastro, who is fulfilling a half-time role through the end of the school year.

There’s simply not enough money in the developing 2023-24 budget to accommodate a full-time superintendent, board members first learned during a sometimes tense school board meeting Monday.

“The budget committee recommends that we move forward interviewing candidates for a part-time superintendent,” wrote board member Mary Carlson in an email this week. “We’ve notified all candidates, and are looking forward to interviewing those interested in the part-time position.”

The reality confirmed by the budget committee was introduced Monday by business manager Angela Lind, who is fulfilling her final days of work for the district. Lind is being let go at the end of the school year as part of $383,000 in budget cuts made to date.

Lind sounded the proverbial alarm about a full-time superintendent by citing potential costs for such a position of up to $180,000 — the price neighboring Carlton used to hire its new permanent superintendent, Donita Stepan.

“I’m not seeing how that’s going to fit into the budget,” Lind told the board about a full-time superintendent. “I really don’t think that that’s something you can afford.”

The administration and board are estimating conservatively, they say, in planning for an enrollment of 330 students for 2023-24. While hoping for more, that’s the figure settled on to estimate income from state funding.

A part-time superintendent in the $90,000 neighborhood is the only option that would fit under that scenario, administrators said, without jeopardizing further budget cuts.

“Who else are we going to cut?” Belcastro said. “Are we going to cut more teachers?”

So far, four candidates have applied for the vacant superintendent position, the aforementioned three full-timers and one seeking a part-time position. Until this week, the part-time candidate had been placed on the back burner.

The recommendation for a part-time replacement was a surprise to some board members, including Carlson, who expressed frustration with the process.

“It’s hard to live in reality when we haven’t seen the numbers on paper,” Carlson said.

Lind reminded board members of budget data and charts she has provided. The superintendent position is complicated further by the fact that the board is also restructuring positions around the superintendent. Its next business manager, information technology staff and school leadership are being debated. Among considerations, board members are weighing the prospect of pairing a superintendent with a dean versus a principal. A dean would not supervise staff or evaluate teachers. Rather, the role would solely oversee student issues and conduct. But none of that has been decided.

In addition to resetting its superintendent expectations, the board voted Monday to table a vote on finalizing teacher assignments for the 2023-24 school year. The board has until May 15 to inform tenured teachers of its intent. The board members wanted the extra time to see how budget issues unfold.

“We’re getting close,” board member Eric Ankrum said of the end of budget cuts. “We’re a lot closer than when we started.”