By ZEINAB NAJM
Times-Herald Newspapers
HEIGHTS — Dearborn Heights District 7 is moving along in its superintendent search after unanimously deciding on two final candidates.
Former Pennfield School District Supt. Kevin Simmons and Farmington Public Schools Director of State & Federal Programs School Improvements & Title IX Coordinator Ty Weeks were selected by the board to advance in the process following first round interviews.
Former Iosco Regional Educational Service Agency Supt. Stephen Prissel withdrew prior to interviews and Madison School District Supt. Angel Abdulahad withdrew following interviews.
Special meetings were held at Polk Elementary Media Center, 4651 Polk, where the four candidates were interviewed separately by trustees for 90 minutes on Oct. 11 and 12.
The board then met Oct. 13 for a special meeting where they explained their reasoning for their finalist selections. They also made decisions on the remainder of the process.
Each candidate will be interviewed by the board for 60 minutes and will be asked to make a 15-minute presentation on a topic decided by the board members Oct. 26 and Oct. 27.
Meetings with stakeholder groups are set to take place earlier in the day for each candidate starting with administrators and selected high school students, then teachers and staff, and finally parents and community members.
No board members will be present at the stakeholder meetings, but participates will provide written feedback before leaving which is then given to the board.
Site visits were proposed to be completed during the week of Nov. 1, but the board also discussed holding meet-and-greets for each candidate instead with the general election scheduled for Nov. 2.
A tentative date of Nov. 4 was set for the meet-and-greets, where each candidate would attend with staggered times for each so there is no overlapping.
It was suggested that a maximum of three trustees attend the meet-and-greets to avoid having a quorum and avoiding controversy in the selection process, similar to how three trustees would’ve attended site visits.
Trustees will meet Oct. 18 at a regular meeting and finalize the presentation topic and second round interview questions for candidates. They also can discuss or change the meet-and-greet date during the same meeting.
A Nov. 10 special meeting is scheduled for the board to select a new superintendent if a consensus can be reached following the second round interviews, presentations and meet and greets.
Details for the upcoming schedule will be posted on the district’s website, www.district7.net.
Mary Ann Cyr is currently serving as interim superintendent for the district through Dec. 31 during the search for the permanent superintendent. The change came after former Supt. Jennifer Mast resigned.
To watch the special meetings go to the district’s YouTube page.
(Zeinab Najm can be reached at [email protected].)