ELY – The Ely School Board this week initiated a search for a part-time superintendent with a goal of having the district’s top administrator on the job by July 1.

Following the unexpected announcement earlier this month that ISD 696’s leader, Kevin Abrahamson, wishes to leave his post after four years, board members gathered Monday night to study the district’s administrative configuration costs and decided to stay with a .6 FTE (full-time equivalent) superintendent and two full-time principals.

The board took action in a special meeting after the study session to advertise nationally for the superintendent position, and will review any applications received by the April 15 deadline.

Prior to Abrahamson’s tenure, ISD 696 employed former principal Alexis Lietgeb as a full-time administrator and maintained two full-time principals. In an effort to save money, in 2015, the district opted for a part-time superintendent.

Board member Heidi Mann asked for background information on the school’s administrative configuration and expenditures.

“When the position opened, after some discussion, for a school our size, we felt that three full-time administrators was rather steep for a district with 550-600 students,” said Board Chair Ray Marsnik.

He distributed a comparison of northern Minnesota school district administrative costs for 2014 and 2017 as prepared by the Minnesota Department of Education. Of the 14 school districts compared, ISD 696 is at the top of each list.

The most recent data from MDE indicates the following administrative cost percentages for area schools from 2018: Mt. Iron/Buhl, 15.44 percent; Chisholm, 12.5 percent; Ely, 11.82 percent; St. Louis County, 9.92 percent; Mesabi East, 9.82 percent; Nashwauk-Keewatin, 9.45 percent; and Cook County, 9.10 percent.

Marsnik said he prefered to compare Ely with Cook County, Mt. Iron/Buhl and Nashwauk-Keewatin school districts. Cook County shares a superintendent with Lake Superior School District.

Cook County has a K-12 principal and K-12 assistant principal that also serves as the activities/athletics director. Mt. Iron/Buhl shares a superintendent with St. Louis County School District (ISD 2142), and employs a K-12 principal and a K-12 dean of students. Nashwauk-Keewatin shares a superintendent with Deer River School District.

Many school districts in northern Minnesota have gone the shared-superintendent route to reduce administrative costs. ISD 696 has never had the opportunity to share a top administrator, and it appears there are no nearby districts available to strike a deal.

Mesabi East School District has a full-time superintendent, along with a K-6 principal and 7-12 principal. Abrahamson and Marsnik said they have both considered that school district as a potential superintendent-sharing partner. Abrahamson said he posed that question to the Mesabi East School District several months ago. “I just re-asked the question and their response was, ‘not now,’” he said. “They didn’t say not ever, just not now. Their current superintendent is probably within about two years of retirement.”

He recommended that if the board was happy with the current administrative configuration, they should advertise for the position as soon as possible and see what kind of response they get. He said he is willing to stay with the district past his June 30 contract expiration until a new leader is in place.

‘I’m afraid if we don’t do things quickly here, we may be on the outside looking in,” Marsnik said.

“I have no reason to believe that the current configuration isn’t working,” said board member Tom Omerza. “We’re not burning the candle at both ends. Is there another Kevin out there to get the job done?”

Board member Rochelle Sjoberg also voiced her approval of the current configuration. “For us, being on a smaller scale, have the administrative team function in the way they do. I appreciate the two principals and the entire staff. It takes a team for this to run. This could not be a .6 (superintendent’s position) without our admin team.”

Board members eventually agreed to stay with the current configuration of a part-time administrator and two full-time principals. In the special meeting following the study session, board members agreed to advertise for the position with an application deadline of April 15. They will review the anticipated applicants at a study session on Tuesday, April 16.