Bemidji School Board Approves Five Candidates For Superintendent

The Bemidji Area School Board approved a slate of five candidates tonight for their open superintendent position.

They are:

• Rochelle Johnson – current Cass Lake-Bena Superintendent
• Dr. Tony Kinkel – current Minnesota State Board of Administrators Executive Director
• Mike Kolness – superintendent for East Grand Forks Public Schools
• Tim Lutz – superintendent from Kelliher Public Schools
• Jim Wagner – superintendent from Kimball Public Schools

Superintendent recruiting company School Exec Connect used a profile the board created to decide which candidates would move forward in the process. Next week, the field will be narrowed down to two or three candidates. Those finalists will each get their own day to interview with students, teachers, staff, parents, and community members.

The community interviews for each of the final candidates are open to the public and start at 5 PM on Tuesday, Wednesday, and possibly Thursday if there are three finalists. They will be held in the conference room of the main district office.