MHLT school board gets update on superintendent search

The Minocqua Hazelhurst Lake Tomahawk (MHLT) school district’s board received an update on its superintendent search from Scott Winch of Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates (HYAA) during a meeting on Monday.

Winch’s update lasted roughly 25 minutes and involved him going through a 17-page printed report with board members. 

MHLT’s current superintendent, Dr. Jim Ellis, informed the board in June he plans to retire, but will remain with the district until August, 2025 to help with the transition of whoever ends up being hired.

HYAA was subsequently hired by the board in July to help find Ellis’s replacement. 

Winch said at Monday’s meeting Oct. 30 is the deadline for applications. There are six completed applications at this point, he said, and there’s another five yet to be completed. 

“So I think when we met in August, I thought we’d get about a dozen applications and I think we’ll be right in that … number,” Winch said. “And I have done, anyone that once they’re completed, I’ve done five (pre-screens) and interviews and I have another one set-up for this week. So we’re getting a pretty good idea of where things are at and numbers-wise, I think after you get this (report) out on your website … I think that’s when you’ll see those other five or six complete their applications.”

Winch told the board sometime early next month it will need to hold a “closed session meeting” in order to discuss each applicant. The first round of interviews with the board are slated for early November as well.

Speaking about the process, Winch said HYAA has done a number of things so far, including interviews, public forums and focus groups. 

Each shareholder group was asked the same questions with regard to the district and what they would like to see in MHLT’s next superintendent, he said. 

Winch said participation wasn’t as high as he would've liked, and according to the report, a total of 37 shareholders made up of school board members, administration, staff, students, parents and the community participated. 

He then recapped the profile of MHLT and mentioned the district’s strengths and challenges. Strengths, according to the report, include the size of the district, the dedicated staff, academic achievement and class offerings, and all the opportunities for students outside the classroom. Challenges, according to the report, include communication and the school’s culture, staffing issues, declining enrollment and finances, and the need to work with other local school districts. 

An extensive list was made up of the traits a superintendent applying to MHLT should have, as well as some of the comments made by stakeholders during the focus groups. Survey results with 28 shareholder responses were also included.

Board member Tracy Petrie asked Winch what the average participation rate is when shareholders are contacted in cases like this.

Proportionally speaking, Winch said, a search by HYAA conducted a few years ago for the Colby school district had slightly better participation than what was seen with MHLT. 

“I would of liked to seen a little bit more participation, for sure,” he said. 

“Yeah, me too,” Petrie said. 

Board vice president Jay Christgau, who led the board’s meeting Monday in board president Christy Seidel’s absence, said the information HYAA gathered won’t only be good for finding MHLT’s next superintendent, but also the “general operation” of the district.

‘3rd Friday Count’

Ellis reported to the board on the district’s “3rd Friday Count,” which gathers enrollment data and is used to determine this year’s funding. 

“Our 3rd Friday Count came back (at) 513 kids,” he said. “I mean it’s something I’ve been saying for the past two years that I knew it was coming just looking at a census.”

In 2019, Ellis said, MHLT was at 601 kids. 

“So in five years, we’ve lost 88 kids and I attribute it to many things — the lack of housing, smaller families,” he said. 

Ellis said he believes the district will have to go to a referendum in the next year or two to “maintain the quality of instruction that the people have come to expect.”

“But at the same time, being fiscally responsible, hopefully the people understand that we’ve tried to maintain and make decisions both for short-term and long-term,” he said. “But, again, I don’t see class sizes of 16, 17 kids coming back anymore. I hope I’m wrong, but … we don’t have the families of four or five anymore. … It’s not just an MHLT problem, it's a community problem.”

Ellis indicated to the board he was stressing the enrollment numbers because it’s something that should be on their “radar” moving forward.

It was also mentioned there are 22 4Ks and that number last year didn’t increase all that much when those students got to kindergarten. 

“It’s crazy because I guess in my brain with … 2020 when COVID came around, there were so many people who migrated this way, I thought there might be an influx of students, but instead it’s the opposite,” Petrie said. 

“Well, not only that, but they didn’t contribute to the workforce either,” board member Jennifer Domaszek said. 

“Well, I just want to make the comment that Jim’s guidance throughout these last 20 years, or whatever it’s been, has been dramatically good,” Christgau said. “In 2006 when we were working on the referendum, we were telling people that because of the way the revenue limit works we’re going to be back in three to five years, and that was 2006. So somehow we managed to do well (without referendum). So … a lot of what it will take is all of us selling how good it is here and what we have to offer, and the fact that well-educated children are an investment not a liability.”

Trevor Greene may be reached via email at [email protected].