Helena Flats schedules interviews

District replacing school leader

The search for the next Helena Flats School administrator will take another step Monday when the district hiring committee interviews four candidates for the job.

The district received about 20 applications for the position, district Clerk Tonnie Decker said. Two of the four top candidates are from the Flathead Valley, one is from Missoula and one comes from Minnesota.

As of Thursday afternoon, only two of the candidates had been notified, Decker said. She declined to name any of the candidates until Helena Flats could contact all of them and give them a chance to notify their districts.

The interviews will be from 2 to 10 p.m. Monday in the school conference room. The interviews are open to the public.

The position - superintendent with principal duties - is available beginning July 1, the day after the contract of current Superintendent Paul Jenkins expires.

The Helena Flats Board of Trustees voted in January not to renew Jenkins' contract.

The decision stunned many in the Helena Flats community and resulted in some very well-attended school board meetings when community members asked trustees to reverse - or at least explain - the move.

Board members have been largely silent on the subject, citing Jenkins' right to privacy, but board chairman Erik Wenum said that Jenkins' dismissal was at least partially the result of three consecutive subpar superintendent's evaluations.

Shortly after the board's decision, the district formed a hiring committee to search for a new administrator. Trustee Emily Gillespie is the committee chair. Trustee Jon Lowry, fifth-grade teacher Kathy Bachrach, Title 1 teacher Sally Newberry, Montessori teacher Julie Fiske and Decker make up the rest of the committee.

After the interviews Monday, Gillespie will make a recommendation to the school board based on the committee's findings, Decker said. The board will make the final hiring decision.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com