Staff photo by Fritz Busch Earth moving continues at the Gibbon Fairfax Winthrop (GFW) Public Schools PreK-12 construction site just north of TH 19 at the east edge of Gibbon. Superintendent Dr. Jeff Horton told the school board Monday that the $69.9 project is on schedule and on budget.

GIBBON — The Gibbon Fairfax Winthrop (GFW) Public School Board unanimously approved three interim superintendent candidate finalists Monday.

Approval interim superintendent candidates Pat Devine, Frank Norton and Dr. Kelly Smith came on a motion by board member Russell Miller of Winthrop, seconded by George Grosam of Fairfax.

Devine was Waconia Public School superintendent from 2014-22 before signing a 2-year online school director contract with Waconia Public School. He was assistant superintendent 2012-14, middle and high school principal 1998-2012.

Norton was Red Wing Public School interim superintendent in 2022-23, interim high school principal 2021-22, elementary principal 2005-21 and assistant high school principal 2003-05.

Smith was a Minnesota school superintendent for 24 years, retiring at Belle Plaine Public Schools in 2015. A past president of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators. For the past five years, he was a municipal advisor at Baker Tilly, a licensed independent CPA firm in Minneapolis.

Candidates will interview with school staff, the board, and tour the school beginning at 3:30 p.m., July 18. The board will begin discussing who to offer a contract and enter negotiations with a candidate at an open meeting at 7:45 p.m. in the Gibbon gym.

Jeff Bertrang of the South Central Service Cooperative (SCSC) said the search process included a district profile that was created from 129 surveys, mostly from parents, on the status and opinions about the school district.

The survey said district strengths are quality programming, caring staff, a strong sense of community and small class sizes.

District challenges include retaining highly-qualified staff, student discipline and behavior expectations, facility project transparency, communications, and how challenges affect area population growth and school enrollment.

Characteristics identified for the next superintendent include being a good communicators, listener, having a strong school finance background and experience with school facility building projects.

Bertrang said finalist candidates were chosen from 10 applicants considering prior superintendent, school finance and building project experience.

“There was quite a lot of interest for the position. They are going to have to hit the ground running,” Bertrang said about the interim superintendent candidates.

Bertrang said all candidates were vetted by the SCSC search team.

Horton told the board everything in the building project is moving forward, is on time and on budget despite challenges with heavy rain. Additional project costs for drainage will be handled with project contingency funds.

The filing period for three school board seats opens at 8 a.m., Tuesday, July 30 and ends at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 13.

Dashir Management Services, Inc. who handles school facility maintenance, was recognized by the board. GFW Facility Manager Brian Weir, Laura Palmer and Max Rehschuh of Dashir were at the board meeting.

“I can’t think of anyone who is working harder in our district right now than this team. You help us do all the things that help us do what we do. When students and staff walk in the buildings, you keep us safe and find ways to keep our facilities shining bright. You’re a group of dedicated problem solvers who help the school district make a difference in student’s lives,” Horton said.