Following finalists' withdrawals, Mount Vernon continues superintendent search

The search continues for the Mount Vernon Community School District, as members of its school board dip back into the applicant pool to find a new superintendent.

Three finalists – Gary O'Malley, deputy superintendent of the Cedar Rapids Community School District, Greg Thomas, assistant superintendent of the Marion Independent School District, and Mary Jones, an administrator in the Mesa County Valley School District in Grand Junction, Colo. – will visit Mount Vernon on Monday, June 10 for interviews.

Following those sessions, board members will discuss and may extend an offer to one of those candidates within the following few days.

“We hope to have a decision made that night,” said Shannon Amundson, a member of the Mount Vernon school board.

The trio is the second round of finalists in the board's efforts to replace Superintendent Pam Ewell, who controversially resigned in April. She has accepted a position as the superintendent of the Van Buren Community School District and is set to begin July 1, which is the start of the fiscal year for Iowa school districts.

Gaylord Tryon, founder and president of the Johnston-based G. Tryon and Associates consulting firm, said the search hasn't been easy. The company, which helps conduct educational administrative job searches, is assisting Mount Vernon in its current quest for a new superintendent.

“The timing made it a difficult search. Normally you start a search in January or February,” Tryon said. “This time of year people have either signed contracts or decided to stay where they are.”

After an almost month-long process, the board selected two finalists and was set to hire one of them during the final week of May. Both candidates – Maquoketa Valley Community School District Superintendent Doug Tuetken and Lucas DeWitt, principal of three elementary buildings in the Spencer Community School District – withdrew their applications, citing personal reasons. Neither of them could be reached for comment.

Tryon and Board Member Virginia Roudabush maintain that the three finalists are comparable in quality to the two candidates who removed their names from consideration. Roudabush opted not to detail why none of the current interviewees were finalists the first time around.

“I don't think I can speak to that beyond (saying) at some point you have to narrow some down,” she said. “You have to take what you think are the best characteristics.”

Possible fallout

Roudabush, one of five school board members who voted to accept Ewell's resignation earlier this year, said she is not concerned about that event making the district a less-desirable destination for job seekers.

John Cochrane, who along with Paul Morf voted to reject Ewell's letter of resignation, declined to comment. In an email to The Gazette, Morf reiterated his support for Ewell but did not comment directly on details of the hiring process.

Potential fallout from the current superintendent's resignation, which followed rumors that the school board would vote not to renew her contract, hasn't exactly aided the search.

“Anytime a district for any reason gets negative publicity, that is not helpful,” Tryon said.

Faith in the future

O'Malley, who said the Mount Vernon position is the first he has interviewed for in four years, took the Ewell situation into account when he applied but is excited for the chance to get acquainted with the district.

“I think it's safe to say that those of us who have great jobs are very selective about the places we consider,” he said. “Mount Vernon is a great community and a great school district.”

Thomas echoed the sentiments of O'Malley, his fellow finalist, calling the district and community “phenomenal.”

“It was just too good to pass up,” Thomas said of applying for the vacancy. “What has happened in the Mount Vernon district up to this point is really none of my concern or my business.”

John Rhomberg, a parent of four Mount Vernon students and chairman of the Community Resiliency Project's Community School Support Initiative, said he also felt that the controversy affected the search but remained optimistic.

“I don't think it's had a positive impact but you never know,” said Rhomberg, a vocal supporter of Superintendent Ewell. “Everything typically works out for the better. If we can find someone who's really great, it could work out just fine.”

While board members have voiced a desire to fill the vacancy soon, Monday may not mark the end of the search.

“I don't think there's any guarantee that we will offer any of them a position,” said Board Vice President Mark Weldon of the finalists. “I think we always have the option of hiring an interim superintendent and continuing our search over the coming year if that needs to happen.”