Reconsiderations for Woodland Park School District RE-2’s superintendent search and an 11th-hour meeting over its charter school were the topics of discussion at a special board of education meeting Tuesday afternoon.

Early positive returns on interim superintendent Ginger Slocum have raised the possibility of her as a permanent option.

“She meets the criteria of most or all of these questions in these bar graphs,” said Mick Bates, the school board president.

The board is considering next steps in the hiring process for a permanent superintendent after gathering public feedback from parents, students, teachers, staff and other community members.

The discussion item came after the initial agenda, which included a discussion on the lease agreement for long-debated Merit Academy, was tabled.

The public survey is part of a multi-step process before vetting and interviewing suitable candidates. Using feedback from more than 170 respondents, the job description will get finalized and posted early next week.

The approach follows years of selections with either little to no public input or outright public objections.

Among the biggest desires from those surveyed were improved transparency, communication and trust in district actions, decisions and fiscal responsibility. Respondents also expressed a desire for someone who will be committed to living in and engaging with the local community and decreasing public division.   

To that last point, Bates said Slocum has strengthened public ties since she was selected as interim superintendent in August. Examples mentioned included regular appearances at extracurricular events and activities, meeting with the Woodland Park Mayor Kellie Case and rebuilding the district’s relationship with law enforcement.

Slocum recently appeared in a social media video with Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell and Woodland Park Police Chief Chris Deisler, discussing their intentions to collaborate on school safety.

In the video, Deisler said that the community bond between the departments “was sort of lost there for a while.”

Bates and other board members said they’d like to consider Slocum as the permanent superintendent based on the work she’s already done, her intention to apply and the possibility that dollars intended for the search firm Grundmeyer Leader Services could be saved.

“I think she’s just getting started, in my humble opinion,” Bates said.

Board member Keegan Barkley also expressed her approval of Slocum, saying she was “over the moon” with her work as superintendent to date, but also noted that the board has opted for this quick approach for their recent selections that didn’t work out.

Barkley said a full search is needed because it’s been so long since a comprehensive hiring process was conducted, and because initial public feedback has been receptive.

“I really think that this school board owes it to the community to do a proper search, to do proper interviews with a pool of highly qualified candidates that Grundmeyer can help us find,” Barkley said. “And then say, without a doubt, that we did, in fact, hire the best person we could find.”

The district’s most recent superintendent, Ken Witt, had a contract that rolled into a permanent position after serving one year as the interim. The decision was met with immediate public outcry and Witt resigned in March.

Board member David Rusterholtz said the negative response from the Witt hiring stemmed from a general dislike of him rather than the board omitting public input. He said that Slocum would bring stability to the district due to her local ties already in place.

Slocum’s interim contract will last through the current school year.

With the timeline set to post the superintendent opening next week, the board agreed to both finalize the job posting and distribute a follow-up questionnaire to the community with two questions. The first will ask residents if they think the board should extend Slocum’s contract for one year, the second will ask if they should continue the superintendent search with an open section for them to explain why or why not.

The survey is expected to be distributed via social media.  

Merit Academy discussion

Board members also scheduled a meeting for 6 p.m. Thursday to review the lease agreement with the district’s charter school, Merit Academy. The agreement comes after the board approved a 30-year contract renewal with the school in August.

The lease agreement discussion and public comment was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but Bates said board members needed more time for their own review.

Addressing about $3 million deferred maintenance in the former middle school building, like replacing its boilers, was among the needs that have yet to be addressed by the school district. Bates said the lease would take this financial burden off the district, though Barkley argued that she has yet to see any reports or documentation of this deferred maintenance and costs.

The public comment portion of Thursday’s meeting has no limits on the number of speakers who can sign up.