Two superintendent candidates are being considered by the Mackinac Island Board of Education, following telephone interviews Monday, December 14. The board has decided to send two teachers for a visit to the community of one of them, David Waaso of South Haven. Depending on the success of the visit, the board could make a decision as early as its meeting Thursday, December 17, at 6 p.m., according to Interim Superintendent Michael Bootz.

Steve Vernon of Rapid City, South Dakota, was also interviewed Monday. A third candidate, Carl Sztuczko of St. Louis, Michigan, withdrew his application following public interviews held on Mackinac Island Monday, December 7.

Mr. Waaso is the operations director at South Haven Public Schools. A Hillsdale College graduate, he has been an elementary principal, high school and middle school assistant principal, athletic director, and a biology, conservation, and physical science teacher.

Mr. Vernon is a teacher. He majored in elementary education and minored in middle school education at Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota. He has a master's degree in administration at the secondary level and has taught fourth through 12th grade. He was the dean of students with the Rapid City South Dakota School District and an assistant principal.

Following face-to-face interviews December 7, the telephone interviews were approved by the board at a special meeting Wednesday, December 9, but the process was not announced.

Interim Superintendent Mi - chael Bootz of Mackinaw City did not attend the Wednesday meeting because a winter storm canceled ferry service that day.

The Wednesday meeting had been scheduled to review the board's collective interview notes and to set up visits to the communities of the candidates, after board members observed Monday that the three candidates they interviewed would all do an excellent job for Mackinac Island Public School. The decision to interview Mr. Waaso and Mr. Vernon once more, this time by telephone, was made because several new questions for them had been proposed, Mr. Bootz said.

Because of the canceled boat service that day, The St. Ignace News was also not able to attend the meeting.

Face-toface Interviews

December 7 Put Focus

on Students, Staff Interaction

The December 7 interview meeting was attended by about 10 teachers and residents.

Board members queried candidates mostly on their ideas for education and curricula and relationships with the community and with the board of education.

The candidates were not present during each other's interviews.

During the interviews, each board member was responsible for reading questions. The process was to offer a fair interview, said Mr. Mosley. No variations were made, although at the end of each interview the board sought clarification on several candidate comments.

The major focus was on students and personnel administration. The board was interested in the candidates' thoughts on discipline, whether they consider themselves role models, and a description of their experiences and comfort level with students of all ages.

Conflict resolution was explored with the board giving a scenario of a parent calling to complain that a teacher had mistreated a child. The board asked how the candidate would address and resolve the situation.

Leadership practices with staff and teachers was questioned, as well as their methods of building trust and raising morale.

The board also wanted to know how the candidate see the role of the school board in the affairs of the school district, and asked what phase of the budget process they found to be most difficult.

Candidates were asked to identify their strengths and weaknesses.

"I think, personally, that all three gentlemen were excellent candidates," said Board President Ben Mosley. "I think that any one of the three of them would do an excellent job for the district. Perfection is in the details. Each one of the candidates had their own strong points."

Board member Jason St. Onge cited a statistic he had heard that superintendents serve a district for an average of only 2.2 years, so Mackinac Island should not plan to hire someone who would stay long-term.

"Those days are over," he noted.

Having a good person for a short time, said Mr. Bootz, is better than having an average person for a long time.

Following the interviews, Mr. Bootz assured the board he would stay in the position until a superintendent is hired. The board said it did not want to make a rushed decision. When hired in September, Mr. Bootz had agreed to stay in the temporary post until the end of December.