The Springs School Board received 33 applications for the district superintendent position and conducted preliminary virtual interviews with 11 candidates, the school board president, Barbara Dayton, said during the board's meeting on Tuesday.
The current superintendent, Debra Winter, officially retired over the summer and has been serving as a per-diem interim superintendent since then. She is in her seventh year with the district.
From the 11 candidates interviewed virtually, the board invited five of them for in-person interviews that were to be held yesterday.
"It has been a process, but we are excited by the candidates that we have," Ms. Dayton said.
Ms. Winter said the district received 130 responses to a survey it conducted seeking the input on the search for her successor from parents, teachers, students, and community members.
Eighty-five percent of the respondents rated "strong vision and ethical leadership" as the top trait they want in a new superintendent. "Excellent communicator who understands the needs of students and staff in a multicultural learning environment" was the next-highest-rated characteristic at 78 percent, according to the survey results.
The district did not publish the specific notes of feedback that it received. "Comments ranged from anywhere from 'please try to find us a good person' to 'we have needs here that we need addressed and need addressed now,' " Ms. Winter said.
The school board accepted a retirement letter from Patricia Grande, a math teacher who served Springs for 25 years. She is an "extremely reflective teacher, always seeing the specialness" of her students, Ms. Winter said.
The board also awarded tenure on Tuesday to Laura Dunham, a fifth-grade teacher whom Ms. Winter described as an "out-of-the-box" thinker and devoted educator.
Ms. Dunham, who is an officer of the Springs PTA, announced that the annual Turkey Trot event had raised $27,961, which bested last year's proceeds by 41 percent.