Screen Photo Mike Heiman, left, and Paul Stremick present the results from focus group interviews of the four candidates for Minot Public School District superintendent at the conclusion of the meeting held Thursday evening.

The interview of the final candidate looking to be selected as the new Minot Public School District superintendent was completed Thursday evening with Luke Schaefer making his presentation before the school board.

This was followed by a direct interview, with the meeting concluding with a review of results from focus groups and the passing of a motion to schedule a meeting to make the final decision early next week.

Interviews with the four candidates took place in the evenings beginning Monday with Mark Helm, Renae Rudolph on Tuesday, Scott Faul on Wednesday and concluding with Shaefer Thursday. Each morning before the interview the candidates took part in focus groups operated by consultants Paul Stremick and Mike Heilman, responding to questions generated by the members of the public. Stremick said there were 50 participants in the focus groups that interviewed superintendent candidates, drawing from the questions and priorities of around 800 people who participated in three surveys. Stremick said the top concerns for focus groups were communication from school administration with the public, keeping the best interest of the students as a priority in decision making, and the retention of students in classrooms.

The results from the candidate’s responses to the focus groups questions were only separated by .55 weighted average between the highest and lowest. Heilman said the data indicates they had a qualified group of candidates, which was supported by the closeness found in the cumulative weighted average.

“The scores I think from top to bottom reflect the candidates that you had. We did a pretty good job of giving you information. It’s still your decision to make. No candidate had the lowest score in any area. Everyone had some highs, everybody had some lows. Some were more consistent than others.” Heilman said.

The board discussed the timeline for each member to make their selection, with board Vice President Mitch Kraft and member Sabrina Herrmann requesting the weekend to mull it over, and provide Herrmann time to follow up with a few references for the candidates. The board would vote to pass the motion, with Heilman confirming for Kraft that it was a rare thing for their focus groups to have such a tight group of candidates. .

“This is probably the closest we have ever seen. We’ve had individuals be pretty close to one another, but to have all four, that’s something we haven’t seen. We felt the pool of candidates was strong for Minot. This maybe supports that belief a little bit.” Heilman said.

An agenda for the Monday meeting was released late Friday, including four items for discussion on the interviews, to consider a motion to offer the position, an executive session to discuss contract negotiations, and approval for instruction for the negotiations.