Forest Lake Area Schools — Transcript
Thursday, April 9, 2026
Superintendent Candidate Deliberation and Selection Criteria
Approval of Superintendent Finalists
Planning for Finalist Interview Process and Public Engagement
Votes (1)
Motion to Approve Finalists for Superintendent of Schools
Dissent: None, as all members voted 'Aye', despite some expressing personal surprise or disappointment about the selection outcomes prior to the vote.
Moved by Mr. Chair [0:07:37] · Seconded by Unknown [0:07:46]
The board deliberated on the five initial candidates, reflecting on their diverse experiences from financial management and district leadership to local commitment and educational innovation. Following a rubric-based evaluation, Dr. Bitman announced that the top three candidates were in strong agreement among board members. A discussion arose regarding the public disclosure of individual candidate scores, with Dr. Bitman advising against it to protect candidates' future prospects, though board members expressed desire for transparency or clarification on score disparities. Member Tyson raised specific clarifying questions for Dr. Wagner concerning his views on diverse learning and his comments about the 'Twin Cities'. Despite some personal disappointment from board members that certain local candidates did not make the final list, there was an overall sentiment of unity and confidence in the quality of the three chosen finalists.
Notable Quotes (4)
Again, we're basing this off the community feedback that we've had, the criteria that we've had from over 700 individuals uh through the survey, seven different listening sessions from students, families, staff, administrators, and community.
The reason we do that is because as an individual goes into a finalist if there's a person with a lot of points and a a person with significantly less that could impact the process. they're going to see the the live stream, the conversation, etc. after this and have a full week.
So, just kind of clarifying what he meant around that. um because I know for us in Forest Lake, we've worked a lot on um diverse learning and differentiated learning and so there are different ways that we try to our teachers try to teach to our students because they don't all hear it in the same way.
I'm very encouraged that this group can come together. I feel that these interviews brought forth a it exposed a lot of unity on this board and we have um we had five solid candidates. I think we have three solid finalists on the table here and that encourages me that I think uh we can make it through this final selection process and and have an extremely successful superintendent moving forward.
Ordinances & Resolutions (1)
Legislation mentioned as part of candidate Becky Broaddier's experience in changing large systems.