Round 2 Finalists
The EV-W school board met at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 1, to interview the five semifinalists. The interviews were held in the High School Media Center, and were open to the public.
Following the interviews, the board unanimously narrowed the field to three finalists: Baumgarten, Mielke, and Perry.
All three finalists are scheduled to be interviewed starting at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 5, again in the Media Center. To ensure a level playing field for all candidates, the interviews will not be live-streamed or recorded.
Round 1 Semi-finalists
Five semi-finalists had been selected for Eden Valley-Watkins superintendent position Eden Valley. The Eden Valley–Watkins school board unanimously selected five semi–finalists to interview for the school district’s superintendent position to replace superintendent Mark Messman who will retire at the end of this school year. The semifinalists were:
• Joel Baumgarten, Superintendent and Elementary Principal, Buffalo Lake Hector-Stewart Schools
• Jason Michels, High School Principal, Litchfield Public Schools
• Jason Mielke, Elementary Principal, Albany Area Schools
• Dr. Trish Perry, Superintendent, Foley Public Schools
• Judd Wheatley, Principal, MACCRAY Public Schools
The five semi-finalists were selected from a pool of 17 applicants based on criteria established by the school board, as well as survey input provided by Eden
Valley-Watkins staff and members of the public.