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The Glasgow School Board met July 26 in the school administration building to interview two candidates for the superintendent position. Lisa Stroh, Ph.D., currently of the Poplar School district, and Wade Sundby, Saco superintendent, sat down for lengthy interviews with board members, in front of educators, retirees and this reporter from The Glasgow Courier. Aaron Cornman, Ph.D, Missouri, had called board chair Mona Amundson to withdraw his application. According to Amundson, Cornman said moving his family in three weeks, provided he was offered the position, would be too much to take on.

The two remaining candidates toured the three Glasgow schools Friday morning, prior to appearing before the board. Each candidate had a limited amount of time to review the interview questions and jot some notes before the formal interview. Both interviews lasted over an hour, with Stroh appearing first.

Born and raised in Circle, Stroh demonstrated her familiarity with Glasgow by mentioning her two sons were wrestlers. While she described herself as a people person whose strengths are organizational management, caring about kids, and knowing how to better serve kids, many of her verbose answers circled back to budget issues. Acknowledging that the district's budget is tight, Stroh signaled that cuts in personnel would happen if she were the superintendent, relaying an anecdote about using volunteers rather than staff to save money at a district in Alaska, discussing how much thought she puts in before telling someone they don't have a job, to saying, "I'm very frugal." Stroh's background and education in both administration and special education were a bonus to the candidate, but were not enough for the board to select her.

Clad in a suit, red shirt, and plaid tie in the Scottie colors, Sundby sat down after the lunch hour for his interview with the board. The budget continued to be a theme in the afternoon. In concise answers, Sundby stressed that his priority would be the students and staff. Noting that Saco is a much different district than Glasgow, both in size and funding, he offered an honest analysis of his past work and difficulties he has not had to address. In addition, he offered a forward-looking approach he hopes to implement as the Glasgow superintendent, saying he has "a growth mindset." As examples, he shared how he told the Saco board he was applying for the position here, while at the same time offering that district his ideas for how they could move forward in the event he was offered the job in Glasgow.

Sundby expressed confidence in the district teachers as the best way to monitor student success, while also stressing a need to give teachers the necessary time to review and dive into testing results. "Everyone has pride in what they do, and they should," he told the board about fostering a positive work environment. "I need to see that and promote it." When asked about how appropriate it was to take a public stance on school issues, he took the opportunity to offer a positive vision, saying he would gladly take a stand "when it affects students and staff, when it comes to promoting the pride of the school district, of the Glasgow Scotties."

In the final portion of the interview, the board asked Sundby if he had any questions for them. His first question garnered appreciation from the teachers in attendance, "What are the leadership strengths and needs of the district?" The board members cited their own leadership, Kelly Doornek's role as clerk, and the current administration as strengths, and passing a mill levy as a need. The candidate also asked what the expectations would be of him. In a preview of the announcement to come later that evening, Amundson laughingly replied, "YOU be superintendent. We don't want to do it." Sundby and the board also discussed where they would like to see the district in five years, which is tech savvy, fully staffed, and keeping students competitive.

A meet-and-greet was held in the administration building from 5 to 6 p.m. that same evening. At 6 p.m. the board went into session where they discussed the candidates and came to a decision. After a half hour, the announcement was made that the board had offered the '94 GHS graduate Sundby the position.

After reaching terms on a contract shortly after the offer, Sundby has plans to hit the ground running with school beginning in approximately three weeks. He plans to be in the classrooms and the public eye soon, reacquainting himself with the community in an introduction phase.

A full profile with Superintendent Sundby will be featured in a future issue of the Courier.

Correction: Last week's article regarding the school board's screening of the applicants incorrectly spelled Sundby's last name "Sundee". This was incorrect and the Courier regrets the error.