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South Putnam Board briefed on superintendent search
As Superintendent Bruce Bernhardt prepares to retire at the end of the school year at South Putnam, the search for who will replace him is slated to begin next January.
Last month, the South Putnam School Board hired Administrator Assistance -- based out of Brookston -- to assist with the application process. The company itself has experienced superintendents on its staff.
The board invited former superintendent Steve Wittenauer to its regular meeting Wednesday evening to give a rundown of the selection process and how Administrator Assistance would be involved.
Wittenaur has a local connection. Prior to retiring as superintendent at Benton Community Schools and then co-starting Administrator Assistance in 2008, he previously served as superintendent at Cloverdale Schools.
Administrator Assistance is currently helping conduct searches at Southeast Fountain, and will be involved at South Putnam and Western Schools in the spring. Not having a singular focus could work to the school corporation’s advantage.
“The nice thing about doing things at the same time is that you can get a lot of good candidates,” Wittenaur said. “You can only hire one at each school corporation; that means there may be two or three really good ones that didn’t get hired.”
He said the search would begin next January. That time will be for the board to express what they are looking for in a superintendent, as well as discuss parameters such as the salary range and benefits.
A period to receive applications will then open, and each board member will receive a copy of his or her resume and application to screen. The board will decide how many applicants to interview, then reduce the pool to two or three candidates.
Wittenaur said Administrator Assistance would only be a facilitator in the screening process. If the board cannot make a decision, it could go into the applicants’ home communities and gauge them from residents there. The candidates and their spouses may even be invited to dinner.
“You can learn a lot of things in an informal setting like a dinner,” Wittenaur said. He provided an example of when a South Putnam candidate’s wife said their kids would go to Cloverdale.
“Guess who didn’t get the job?” he posed.
The board should have their candidate in the end. The contract with the salary and benefits would be drawn up and the new superintendent would be publicly announced.
Wittenaur highlighted a service Administrator Assistance provides in helping new superintendents into the position. The company will stay on for a year to provide mentorship and advice, especially to someone who may not have similar experience.
Wittenaur said the process would take place from January to no later than June. He expects that South Putnam will receive eight to 10 applicants, and the hardest part will be selecting the candidate.
“I’m assuming that the same thing’s gonna happen here,” he said. “We’re happy that the board selected us to do this. I think we’ll be able to work with the board at getting someone who’ll come in and do a really good job replacing Bruce, who’s been here for a while.”
In other business:
• The board adopted the 2021 budget, as well as capital projects and a school bus replacement plan. These can be viewed on Gateway.
• Bernhardt reported that Transportation Director Brad Ogborn had recently reviewed South Putnam’s school bus routes and drop-off points as required by Indiana law.
• The board approved a contract brought by Bernhardt to replace copiers throughout the corporation. The contract is a 60-month one from Toshiba, which Bernhardt stated came in $40,000 less than the next lowest contract. Repair services will also be included.
• The board held a public hearing on approving additional appropriations. Bernhardt stressed that this was not asking for more money, but only to have authority from the board to spend money the corporation already has.
Bernhardt asked for $600,000 to go into the education fund, $450,000 in the operations fund and $500,000 into rainy day. The authority to spend this money goes away at the end of the year.
The board closed the hearing and approved the additional appropriations.
South Putnam’s Students of the Month were also recognized:
• Zane Lehr - Central Elementary School
• Lorena Brown - Fillmore Elementary School
• Veronika Fulk - South Putnam Middle School
• Evan Steffy - South Putnam High School
The board also approved the following personnel report:
• Resignations (ECA only): Annie Richmond - MS/HS girls’ swimming; RaeAnne Kimmel - MS/HS girls’ assistant softball; Gabe Burkhart - boys’ JV baseball; Andy Waters - varsity and MS wrestling; and Austin Judy - freshman boys’ basketball;
• New hires:
-- Classified: Kathrine McDougall - Central Elementary instructional assistant (part-time) and Robin White - MS/HS custodian;
-- ECA: Shannon Garner - seventh-grade boys’ basketball; Steve Smith - freshman boys’ basketball; and Brice Hill - JV boys’ basketball;
• Volunteer: Sawyer Arnold - varsity and JV boys’ basketball.
The next regular meeting of the South Putnam School Board is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. in the South Putnam MS/HS Learning Center.