Twenty-six candidates have applied to be Durango School District 9-R’s next superintendent, and the board of education plans to whittle the pool down to seven to 10 people in the first cut in its selection process next week.
Cutting the initial candidate pool will be done in a closed session to protect the anonymity of applicants.
School board members this week formed a resume review committee that will review applications of candidates and make the first cut from Tuesday night’s closed-door session.
The resume review committee will offer input to school board members as they trim the pool to two or three finalists. The finalists would come to Durango for public interviews in March.
The school board hopes to name a new superintendent in early April.
9-R Superintendent Dan Snowberger, who was hired in 2012, announced he will leave the district at the end of June. He earns $169,320 annually.
Linda Dawson, a senior partner with Aspen Group International, which is assisting 9-R in its search for a new superintendent, said people who know the district and the community and have been through a search process before would be helpful in offering guidance to find the right person to be the district’s new leader.
The Aspen Group International has also informed the school board that it is on the low end of superintendent salaries and will likely be paying a higher annual salary to Snowberger’s replacement.
According to the Aspen Group International, two districts similar to 9-R, Steamboat Springs and Cheyenne Mountain, pay their superintendents $201,000, and $265,000 respectively.
parmijo@durangoherald.com
