MAISD returns one finalist for superintendent position

STANTON — The search for the next superintendent of the Montcalm Area Intermediate School District has narrowed to one finalist, pending a district visit and additional interview.

On Monday, the MAISD board interviewed during a special meeting with two finalists for the superintendent position, which was vacated after former superintendent Kyle Hamlin died in July after a short battle with cancer.

The two finalists interviewed were Ottawa County School District Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Kathy Flynn and Montabella Community Schools Superintendent Shelley Millis.

A third finalist, John Denny, a former superintendent of the Horton-Hanover School District, was scheduled to interview Tuesday but contacted the district Monday to tell the board he was withdrawing from consideration after landing a new position elsewhere.

As a result, the board did meet for its special meeting on Tuesday, but instead of interviewing Denny, board members discussed their next steps after the interviews with Flynn and Millis.

Consensus on Flynn

At the conclusion of the discussion, the board voted unanimously to have Flynn return for a second interview at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 4, with a tour of the school district to precede that interview, as well as a public meeting at 3:30 p.m. prior to the interview at the Hamler Administration Building in Stanton.

All five board members said Flynn ranked slightly higher than Millis among the two finalists.

“We had two very, very strong candidates, and they each proposed different things,” board President Mark Christiansen said. “But when I looked at our candidate profile, I rated each candidate on that metric, and one (Flynn) was a little stronger than the other (Millis).”

“I agree,” added Vice President Deb Snyder. “When I look at the ideal candidate and the selection criteria according to this profile, one (Flynn) stands out much more than the other (Millis”).

Board members specifically cited Flynn’s broader experience in special education as an advantage.

After seeking advice from Pete Haynes, a search consultant hired by the school district for the Michigan Leadership Institute, on next steps, Haynes suggested the board bring the finalists back for a second round interview to answer additional questions, but only if they were seriously considering them. position.

“You don’t want to mislead anyone,” he said. “If you’re all referring to the same person, you might want to bring him back to answer some of those unanswered questions you have.”

Haynes said both candidates will bring different elements to the school district in terms of leadership.

“In Shelley’s case, I would be surprised by the transition from a local school district to an ISD—the funding and transparency are completely different. But she has leadership experience,” he said. “Essentially, she will be moving from CEO to CEO, but in a different environment. With Katie it’s different. She’s worked in ISD for a long time, including this one, which means she’s never had to report to five supervisors in the form of a board of education. She always had one boss. So I’m wondering, how will this relationship work?”

Haynes also noted that during the interview, audience members, many of whom were district employees, wrote down additional questions that needed to be answered. He suggested asking Flynn these questions at her next interview.

“I think there are more important topics to discuss, issues around dual enrollment and early college entry,” he said. “One of the things we’ve heard from students and staff is that there is some fear and anxiety when enrolling, especially in the early years of college. All of this is happening at the same time as free community college for all. Additionally, we have technology and financial issues between local districts and ISD.

“When we hired Kyle, the vote was 4-1, and I was very sorry that Kyle came to this organization with such an offer,” he added. “It wasn’t anything personal, but I left that meeting that night feeling really bad. We did not have consensus on the appointment of our next leader. Therefore, we need to reach consensus on this issue.”

Katie Flynn

Prior to joining OAISD, Flynn worked for the Muskegon Intermediate School District as the assistant superintendent for special education from 2015 to 2019, and before that for MAISD as the assistant superintendent for special education from 2002 to 2015.

During her interview, Flynn expressed MAISD’s future vision as centered on a service concept.

“I think that’s what ISD is all about,” she said. “It’s about identifying services and supports that meet the needs of the community and local school districts. And it’s about flexibility. The vision I see here is to think about innovation and flexibility, and to meet the needs and interests of every person. I think there are some opportunities to work with families, to engage students in a different way. I think there is room for innovation. Many ISDs are working on attendance and engagement strategies as absenteeism rates are high. So what is the vision for us to do school differently for a different group of kids who join us?”

Flynn pointed to state revenue and staffing shortages among the predicted challenges she expects for MAISD.

“Schools have traditionally been underfunded and continue to be underfunded, but our revenues are probably the best they’ve ever been,” she said. “So at some point I think this is going to be a problem that we have to face. We will have to determine how in the state of Michigan, with the revenue we generate, we can continue to innovate in education and help school districts, students and families reach their potential using the resources we have? I also think that one of the problems that we have to face right now is the development of education. We need people to want to be teachers. The staffing shortage is so significant that it is definitely impacting our children.”

Shelley Millis

Millis has served as the superintendent of Montabella Community Schools since 2012, beginning her career as a teacher at Eaton Rapids.

During her interview, Millis expressed MAISD’s future vision, which will focus on redefining the current vision.

According to the MAISD website, the school district’s vision is that MAISD “will be an educational partner in building strong communities” and its mission statement states: “In partnership with its communities, MAISD provides innovative and effective learning opportunities for students, schools, and families “

“I read your vision, your mission statement, and I wouldn’t say I disagree with it or that there will be big changes, but I think the change will be how do we approach this?” – Millis said. “I don’t think I can emphasize enough the importance of people and human capital. This is something I think we should strive for and work towards.

“I think we have some good processes in place where we engage stakeholders in our local ISDs. I think one of the problems is that they don’t always come to the table. We do not always receive such full representation from all of our local districts. I think in order to get everyone involved, we all need to be at the table. For ISD, I believe our biggest entry point is through our local neighborhoods. Thanks to our local superintendents, this is key to being able to connect with the community at large.”

Millis said she doesn’t think MAISD is unique in addressing specific issues, but will have to address issues that are occurring across the state.

“I think the problems we’re seeing across the state are the same problems we’re going to see here – teachers, workforce – it’s a big problem that we’re all going to face,” she said. “I think it really puts us behind the eight. So I think we need to address these issues as early as possible without going backwards and ending up in a situation where you’re already too late.”