Bemidji School Board Narrows Superintendent Candidates To 3 Finalists

After half a day of interviews, the Bemidji School Board has narrowed the superintendent candidate field down to three finalists. Tim Lutz, current superintendent of Kelliher Public School, Rochelle Johnson, superintendent of Cass-Lake Bena Schools and Mike Kolness, superintendent of East Grand Forks Public schools, have all been invited back for final interviews next week.

Each of the three candidates will be given their own day to interview with students, teachers, staff, parents and community members. They will also have a final interview with the Bemidji Board members over dinner.

Anyone is welcome to come to the community interviews with each of the candidates; they will be held next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. They all start at 5pm in the district office board room located at 502 Minnesota Ave NW. It’s not yet determined which candidate will interview on each day.

Carol L. Johnson, the Bemidji School Board chairperson, says, “Each night, there will be a different finalist here to meet the community and you get to visit with them; ask questions. They’ll probably ask questions of you, too, about the Bemidji community, and it will be your way of them providing feedback to the board, and we look forward to having that community input in this very, very important position in our community.”

After the last interview on Thursday, the board will narrow their choice down to one candidate and begin negotiating a contract with that candidate. The new Bemidji Schools superintendent will officially start the job on July 1^st.