Parents, staff and community members of the North Beach School District had a chance to voice their comments, questions and concerns Tuesday evening regarding the district’s search for a new superintendent.

About a dozen people attended a community forum to engage with a representative from Hazard, Young, Attea Associates, a consulting firm the district has hired to help with the vetting and community engagement process.

Dr. Kristine McDuffy, an associate with the firm, and a 17-year superintendent and longtime educator, provided a rough timeline for the search and hiring process, which is currently nearing the end of the community engagement phase. McDuffy said the firm will continue with recruitment until the application period closes Feb. 10.

The firm has already spoken with 15 potential candidates, about half of who have started their applications.

The target start date for the new superintendent is July 1, McDuffy said, although ideally the candidate would be chosen before the end of the 2023 school year to allow the newcomer to get familiar with students and staff.

According to Jeffrey Albertson, a school district board member representing District 1, the school board doesn’t currently know who has applied for the position, and won’t know until after the application closes.

That post-application period, when the firm will sort and vet candidates, harbored much of Tuesday evening’s discussion.

Several attendees at the forum inquired about the firm’s process for background checks given the shaky departure of the last two top administrators.

Former North Beach Superintendent Andrew Kelly resigned last spring after the district placed him on paid leave. He was later convicted on five-year-old DUI charges and sentenced to 60-months probation.

Before Kelly joined the district, the board released former Superintendent Deborah Holcomb after a North Beach teacher’s union expressed concern about Holcomb’s policies and filed an unfair labor practices complaint against the superintendent, The Daily World reported in 2018.

McDuffy said the firm uses social media investigations and reference checks to vet candidates before the final rounds of selection.

“There is just no rock that is going to go unturned, it’s just too large of stakes,” McDuffy said.

In addition, McDuffy said, once finalists are narrowed down, the board will likely bring in a third-party investigator to conduct a background check, a “very comprehensive” report done by trained professional investigators.

McDuffy and Albertson said the firm’s network as a nationally-reaching company would be beneficial during background checks, but also in recruiting an array of candidates.

“We’ve got connections to help us look more deeply than, let’s say, just a Washington-based firm,” McDuffy said.

Forum attendees also provided feedback about what qualities they wanted to see in the next superintendent: an emphasis on communication, an understanding of student’s lives and a drive to engage the broader community in Ocean Shores.

In 2022 North Beach voters shot down two ballot measures that would’ve boosted funding, including a $110 million bond on the February ballot and a smaller, roughly $7 million capital projects levy in November.

Using the results from recent forums and an online survey, which is posted on the district’s Facebook page and will expire Jan. 12 at 7 p.m., the firm will craft a candidate profile — an outline of the ideal qualities and qualifications for the next district leader. The profile will then be presented to the board and used as a framework for the proceeding search, McDuffy said.

McDuffy said the minimum qualifications for the position are prior service as a school principal.

While the firm is conducting much of the recruiting in vetting for the candidates, the final selection for superintendent will be up to the board of directors. Once the board interviews candidates, it will deliberate in executive session and ultimately vote on a superintendent in a public meeting, Albertson said.

Albertson added that the district is also looking for someone to fill the District 5 position on the school board, which serves south Ocean Shores.

Contact reporter Clayton Franke at 406-552-3917 or clayton.franke@thedailyworld.com.