“Regarding negotiations with a successful candidate. I’ll be here to help. You’re the boss. We’ll be able to work together.” Lloyd Olson, Northwest Leadership Associates

OROVILLE – The Oroville School Board met with Lloyd Olson of Northwest Leadership Associates to discuss how to proceed with the search for a new district superintendent and to set a timeline for interviews with prospective candidates.

After meeting in a closed door executive session with Olson, the board listened to several suggestions about how to conduct the interviews, having candidates meet with staff during the day and the public, possibly after the board takes each candidate out for dinner.

The first order of business was to decide on a place to conduct the interviews and the high school library was chosen.

There will probably be three candidates chosen to interview, each on a separate day. The board had a hard time scheduling times when they would all be available to conduct the interviews. In the end they decided on April 12, 13 and 14, with the position staying open until March 28, rather than March 18 as originally planned.

“The board interviews are not public, they take place in executive session and shouldn’t last more than about one and a half hours,” said Olson, who provided the board with some sample questions.

“These are just suggestions that you can use if you want to, but you certainly can come up with some of your own and follow up questions. The questions must be the same for each candidate,” Olson said, then making the suggestion that candidates and their spouses be taken to dinner on their interview day.

Each candidate’s interview day will culminate with a 7 p.m. public meeting. Staff and the public will be able to fill out forms for each candidate.

Olson said the current superintendent contract was a good one, but he and Northwest Leadership Associates will make a few suggestions for changes if they need to be made.

“It’s legal to go with one, two or three years, no more. We should try to keep it flexible,” said Olson. “Regarding negotiations with a successful candidate, I’ll be here to help. You’re the boss. We’ll be able to work together,” he said. “When the decision is made by the board then we need to let the staff, public and media know.”