Jenks superintendent candidates narrowed to four finalists
BY KIM ARCHER World Staff Writer
Monday, December 10, 2012
JENKS — The Jenks school board named four finalists in the running to become the district’s next superintendent on Monday.
The new administrator will replace Superintendent Kirby Lehman, who is retiring June 30.
Those selected for formal interviews with the board are Stacey Butterfield, Jenks deputy superintendent; Kathy Dodd, associate superintendent for teaching and learning at Union Public Schools; Dan Stiffler, superintendent at Buhler Public Schools in Buhler, Kan.; and Gary Quinn, longtime superintendent at Bartlesville Public Schools.
The board did not reveal the number of candidates from which the four finalists were selected or the reasons behind the selections.
The candidates will be invited to interview with the school board in executive session during the week of Jan. 7-11, district spokeswoman Bonnie Rogers said.
If all goes well, she anticipates that the new superintendent could be announced at the district’s regular board meeting Jan. 14.
Lehman has been superintendent at Jenks for nearly 24 years. He has been an outspoken advocate for public schools, arguing against a number of recent state education reforms, such as high-stakes testing and state-funded vouchers to send special-needs students to private schools.
He also has been at the forefront of the push for the Legislature to provide more funding for public education after years of declines in state aid.
“Observing governmental leaders making a conscious decision to minimize the funding of core services for Oklahoma has been incredibly frustrating,” Lehman said when he announced his retirement. “Those core services are the very foundation of what attracts businesses from other states.”
The school board enlisted McPherson and Jacobson LLC, an executive search group based in Omaha, Neb., to conduct the search for Lehman’s replacement earlier this year.
Associated Images:
Jenks Public Schools Deputy Superintendent Stacey Butterfield is among the finalists for the superintendent's position. Tulsa World file
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