REGIONAL– For the second time in just over two years, the St. Louis County School Board has bypassed licensed candidates for a principal position to hire an unlicensed individual.

Most recently, the board approved the hiring of Michael Johnson, the son of an acquaintance of Superintendent Steve Sallee.

The board agreed to hire Johnson on June 27, with the understanding that he is not currently licensed as a principal in Minnesota and that the district will need to apply for a variance, at least through October when Johnson is expected to complete the licensure process. The district had five licensed principals among the seven finalists who interviewed for the position, including some that had served as principals in Minnesota schools for several years.

Nonetheless, Lynette Zupetz, who was one of two school board members on the district’s selection committee, said Johnson was the overwhelming choice of the committee, which reviewed all seven candidates who applied for the job. In addition to Zupetz, committee members included board member Gary Rantala and selected administrative officials appointed to the committee by the superintendent.

In Johnson’s favor were his seven years of experience as activities director and dean of students at Foley High School.

Zupetz said committee members were also impressed with how Johnson fielded their questions. “He was very direct where some of the candidates danced around the issues,” she said.

In addition, she said the superintendent did not try to influence the vote and did not speak in favor of Johnson until the committee had reviewed all the candidates.

The board hired Johnson to replace Scott Hall, who served as principal at Cherry for two years. In May 2014, the board hired Hall, who previously worked for Sallee at the Southland School District. It was a controversial decision that pitted Hall against Rachael Lehman, a well-regarded and licensed principal who was serving in the top administrative post at Cherry and Northeast Range at the time. Lehman resigned as a result of the decision and now serves as principal of the Northland Learning Center, in Virginia.

Hall was unlicensed as a principal at the time of his hiring. He is now licensed and he has since returned to the Southland School District where he was recently hired as that district’s new middle school/high school principal.

Like Hall, Johnson will begin work for the St.. Louis County District without a principal’s license. The school district will need to obtain a variance to make that possible.

In addition to Johnson, candidates for the principal slot at Cherry included the following licensed administrators:

‰ Cullen Franek, who has taught business at Barnum High School since 2009. He has also coached boys and girls golf since 2012 and has been a licensed principal since 2014.

‰ Peter Hardy, who has served as elementary principal at Keewatin from 2008-2015. He was a 2014 Distinguished Principal finalist through the National Association of Elementary School Principals.

‰Eric Longtin, who has served as a math teacher and head football coach at North High School in North St. Paul since 2005.

‰ Craig Peterson, who has served as a high school principal in Morris from 2012-2015 and as high school principal and dean of students in Warren from 2007-2012.

‰ Dr. Peggy Mattson Dunn, who is a licensed principal and superintendent, who has worked mostly in high school coaching in recent years at East Grand Forks.

Despite Board Chairman Chet Larson’s proposal that the full board serve as a committee on the principal selection committee, Sallee limited the board committee to two — Lynette Zupetz and Gary Rantala. They, along with selected administrators including the business manager and superintendent, formed the selection committee.

School districts are legally required to hire fully licensed principals, although there is a process for seeking variances from the law. According to Janet Mohr, executive director of the Board of School Administrators, which must approve principal variances, each request is unique. “I can’t speculate on the Board’s decision when reviewing a variance request but one criteria they consider is the availability of other licensed candidates,” she said.

In other business, the board did not renew North Woods Head Volleyball Coach Tom Burnett, citing opposition to Burnett’s appointment by some parents.

Burnett also had supporters at the meeting on June27, most notably former volleyball coach and current Girls Head Golf Coach Kandi Olson. Olson praised Burnett as a coach and every coach had to deal with complaints from parents, a situation that was worsening each year.

Burnett has requested a hearing to seek reinstatement as head volleyball coach. The hearing will be held during the school board’s July 25 meeting.

In other action at the June 27 meeting, the board:

‰Held a study session prior to the meeting to guide the district through a proposed heating project at the Northeast Range School The board heard presentations from Lilth Corp,, Krech Ojard and ARI (Architectural Resources), FFJ (Foster,Jabobs and Johnson Inc. and Unesco.

The board will meet later in July to select a contractor for the Northeast Range project.

•Approved a change order on the Northeast Range window project. The change order will cost the district $9,177.

•Accepted the annual Q Comp report. Q Comp rewards teachers with bonus pay if they meet certain requirements.

•Designated the Ely Co-op Credit Union as a depository for the district. The credit union has a branch in Babbitt where a student activity and petty cash accounts for Northeast Range would be established.

•Approved access to accounts for District Accountant Lisa Callister. Accounts accessible to Callister include Frandsen Bank and Trust, Minnesota School District Liquid Assett Fund. First International Bank and Trust, US Bank, American Bank of the North and North Star Credit Union.

Callister also has access to perform a balance inquiry, export, download data,. Initiate stop payments, view check images and initiate open internal transfers.

•Approved propane bids as follows:

Cherry - Ferrellgas at 72 cents per gallon.

Tower-Soudan – Ferrellgas at 90 cents a gallon.

South Ridge – Ferrellgas at 68 cents per gallon.

North Woods – Ferrellgas at 69 cents per gallon.

Northeast Range – North Country Propane at 72 cents per gallon.

•Hired special education teachers Michelle Phillips and Ruth Porter at North Woods, and Kathleen Meier at Tower-Soudan Elementary.

•Hired a secretary at Northeast Range School, pending a background check.

•Hired Mark Fabish as assistant boys basketball coach at Northeast Range.