By Joanna Miller, Correspondent

Hastening interview schedules allows the Prior Lake-Savage Area School District to beat St. Cloud to hire one of its top two picks for superintendent.

Prior Lake-Savage finalists Sue Anne Gruver, assistant superintendent of Mahtomedi Public Schools, and Leslie Steinhaus, district administrator of the Whitewater Unified School District in Wisconsin, are also finalists in St. Cloud.

The School Board moved up the interview schedule by a week, to this Tuesday and Wednesday, April 15 and 16. St. Cloud will conduct its final interviews Thursday and Friday.

Shifting interview dates also benefited the candidates in their interview processes, as one can continue on after Prior Lake-Savage makes a selection, said Board Chairwoman Lee Shimek

The School Board reached consensus on the finalists last week after interviewing six prospective superintendents.

“There was a sense we were comfortable with these two candidates,” Shimek said.

Concluding the search process may provide “the closure the district needs with moving forward and hiring a superintendent,” she added.

Ken LaCroix, the consultant overseeing the hiring search, said the board agreed to shift the schedule after losing about a week for spring vacations.

“This way, we get first shot at these people. It’s kind of to help them,” LaCroix said.

The finalists

The board opted for two finalists rather than three because there was consensus on the two candidates between the board members and the advisory committee, Shimek explained.

“We’re ready to move forward,” Shimek said. “The community is ready, also.”

Gruver will be interviewed at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, April 15. Steinhaus will be interviewed at 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 16.

Interviews will take place at the District Services Center, 4540 Tower St., Prior Lake. The public is welcome to attend interviews; however, no questions will be taken from the audience.

Shimek said the candidates both made positive impressions in the first round.

“They both presented themselves very well, very professionally,” she said.

Shimek said they have not discussed salary for the position.“We know we need to be competitive in the market,” she said.

The committee plans to make a selection on April 16 and will make its recommendation to the School Board, which will vote on the hiring of the superintendent at its April 28 meeting at 7 p.m. at the District Services Center.  

Joanna Miller can be reached at (952) 345-6375 or jmiller@swpub.com.