Quincy superintendent search nearing its end

QUINCY — The interviews are done and now the Quincy School Board must make its decision.

Superintendent Roy Webb told the Quincy School Board at its Wednesday meeting the search for his replacement is nearly complete, which was basically informing the public as board members were already aware of this.

Webb reported the eight-person committee selected to find his successor has “done an amazing job” and narrowed the field to two finalists, as Board Vice President Shelly Arns said in an interview with Muddy River News earlier this month.

Webb’s update did give a more firm timeline for finalizing the process.

“It was a time-consuming and lengthy process. … They’ve wrapped up all interviews and the interview process,” he said. “I know there’s going to be some board discussion (in executive session) tonight, and there’s going to be a committee discussion early next week. And then soon after that, I think we will have our one finalist. That will be announced at some point in that future timeframe.”

Arns said during her previous interview with MRN she expects the announcement to be made before the Board’s next regular monthly meeting, scheduled for February 23.  

“Then we begin to transition,” Webb said. “There will be plenty of time for a smooth transition and everything to be handed off. So it’ll be very seamless.”

Members of the eight-person committee formed to search for the new superintendent are:

• Sayeed Ali, president of the Quincy School Board;
• Shelly Arns, vice president of the Quincy School Board; 
• George Meyer, assistant superintendent with the district from 1980-93 and superintendent from 1993-97 before retiring.
• Jody Steinke, principal at Quincy High School since 2017 and a district employee since 1994;
• Jess Thorsen, a fifth-grade teacher at Iles Elementary School who has taught in the district for 10 years;
• Kim Dinkheller, director of curriculum, instruction and assessment and a district employee for 21 years;
• Kim Wert, secretary to the School Board and the superintendent since June; 
• Hal Oakley, chairman at Schmiedeskamp Robertson Neu and Mitchell, where he has been a partner for 25 years.

Ali, Arns and Meyer all were members of the committee that selected Webb in 2015.

Webb announced on Oct. 1 his plans to retire at the end of the 2021-22 school year.

Webb also noted that COVID numbers in the school district are following trends in the community and the state. He noted the district had “significantly high numbers” with impacted staff and students. A chart provided by board member Carol Nichols showed the district had more than 200 students and staff members infected with COVID on three days last week.

“We had some days where we struggled filling all the positions. It was a challenge,” Webb said. “But Lisa Otten (director of personnel) and her crew and our substitutes got us through. All the principals, a lot of times they had to reconfigure their teams each day. The bus garage, they’re miracle workers down there, often doubling up (bus) routes.”

In other action, the Quincy School Board:

• Accepted a bid for $481,540.57 from Central States to lease 22 new buses — nine 71-passenger buses, 11 48-passenger buses with air conditioning, one 33-passenger bus plus two wheelchairs with air conditioning, and one 71-passenger bus with air conditioning.
• Accepted a $550,760.31 bid from Kohl Wholesale for food and non-food items for the rest of the 2021-22 school year. The bid was the only one received by the district. Jean Kinder, director of food service, said the bid price was 14.97 percent higher when compared to the same bid in spring 2021.
• Agreed to switch the meeting days of two committees. The finance committee now will meet monthly on Tuesdays, and the building committee will meet quarterly on Mondays.
• Added Will Duryea to the finance committee and Damion Dodd and Jason Allen to the building committee. Board member Richard McNay expects to have another member to recommend for addition to each committee by the board’s February meeting.
• Accepted an offer to replace three security vehicles and lease three 2022 Ford Escapes through Enterprise Fleet Management for 60 months. The estimated monthly lease price is $437.35 per month per vehicle.