Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — The Steamboat Springs Board of Education is working to complete the contract it will offer to one of three superintendent finalists, but no date has been set for board action to approve the hiring of a new district leader.

School Board President Paul Fisher said Tuesday the board has "a pretty good idea of who our No. 1 (candidate) is," but he did not name that person.

The School Board has not scheduled a meeting to approve a new superintendent, and Fisher said he is not sure when such a meeting will take place.

The board likely will discuss the contract with its top choice and wait for that person's decision before taking action on the hiring, Fisher said.

The law requires a minimum of 14 days from the time finalists are announced before a local public body can appoint or employ a finalist to a position.

The School Board announced the three finalists -- Ron Ciranna of Michigan, Wayne Johnson of Wisconsin and Donna Howell of Texas -- on June 27.

Reached at his Detroit area home Wednesday, Ciranna said he hasn't heard anything from the School Board.

"I wish I had," Ciranna said. "I'm waiting like everyone else."

Howell, who was vacationing in St. Louis on Wednesday, said her last contact with the School Board was when she was told the board had to wait 14 days before it could hire a new superintendent.

Like Ciranna, Howell said she's excited and a little anxious for word of a decision.

Howell is a regional vice president for Edison Schools, a private, for-profit company hired by some public school districts to oversee district management responsibilities. Howell said she has 15 years of superintendent experience in Illinois and Vermont.

"It's exciting thinking about going back into a superintendent position, especially in a community like Steamboat Springs," Howell said.

She said she misses the sense of community building that comes with working in a single school district.

Finalist Johnson also said he has not heard from the School Board.

School Board members are spending their time working with their attorney to complete the language of the multiyear superintendent contract, Fisher said. All of the contract work is being done via e-mail.

"We don't have the contract language firmed yet," Fisher said. "We're hoping to have that done Friday."

The employment contract will differ from that of former superintendent Cyndy Simms' in that it will be updated pursuant to revised laws, Fisher said. But besides those changes, the contract will be very similar to Simms', he said.

"It isn't going to be that much different in substance," Fisher said. "It's still going to be a multi-year contract with salary and benefits and probably a vehicle clause. Substantively we're not making huge changes."