New Hampton, Turkey Valley Shared Superintendent Finalist to Interview Thursday (02.06)

Three finalists vying to become the next shared superintendent of the New Hampton and Turkey Valley school districts are slated to be interviewed Thursday (02.05), though one candidate is an “alternate” interviewee.

New Hampton and Turkey Valley School Boards are working with Grundmeyer Leader Services to name a successor to outgoing shared Superintendent Jay Jurrens, who will retire at the end of this school year on June 30th. A total of 12 applications were received, with that pool of candidates trimmed to three finalists in mid-January.

Turkey Valley School Board President Don Blazek says the process has moved quickly since Jurrens’ announcement just over four months ago.

That next phase comes Thursday with finalist interviews, including sessions with student and community members, plus tours of the school districts. 

Previously announced finalists include Michelle Havenstrite, former superintendent and director of special education for the PCM School District in Monroe, and Erik Smith, currently shared superintendent for the AGWSR and Gladbrook-Reinbeck school districts. Smith also previously served as Superintendent at Nashua-Plainfield in the 2010s.

Josh Johnson, who lives in Charles City and is currently director of secondary education for the Waterloo School District, is no longer in the running after he accepted a position elsewhere.

Instead, the school boards invited an alternate candidate to participate, with Micah Gearhart, 5th through 8th grade principal for North Fayette Valley Schools, agreeing to be interviewed.

The two school boards are scheduled to begin a special meeting at 3 pm Thursday for a final review of the candidates, in hopes of extending a contract offer to the candidate they wish to hire.

The next shared NHTV superintendent will begin leading the two school districts effective July 1.