by Stephanie Croston

    With the retirement of Seward High School Principal Ron Lamberty at the end of the school year, the Seward School District is looking for his replacement.
     The school board reviewed the hiring procedures at its Jan. 8 meeting. The process includes three to four teams that will interview the final candidates. The teams are administrative, teacher and classified staff, parents and students.
     Boardmember Pam Williams recommended separating the parents and students to allow the students to see how the candidates react to them. She said five of the six schools she'd talked to had school board members sitting in on the interviews. The Seward district does not have board members on the interview teams.
     "I would like to suggest the board stay out of the process," Boardmember Scott Pekarek said, adding that the board has the final approval of the recommended applicant. "Let the administration do their job."
     Williams and Boardmember John Garske leaned toward having board members on the teams.
     "It's such an important hire," Williams said. "This person is the captain of the flagship. If it's a good hire, it's good for the district. If it's a bad hire, it's very detrimental to the district."
     Boardmember Cindi Fosler said she felt comfortable with the existing process and didn't think the board needed to be involved in the interviews.
     Pekarek agreed. If the board is involved, he said, "it has a tinge of micromanagement."
     Dr. Marlene Uhing, district superintendent, said the deadline for applications is Monday, Jan. 29. All the interviews are scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 7.
     Among the requirements listed on the application invitation are experience at the secondary level, a degree in educational administration and a valid Nebraska administrative certificate.
     The interview teams will be selected and questions developed by Monday, Jan. 22, the board's information said. The superintendent will screen the submitted materials, and three to five candidates will be chosen to be interviewed.
     In another matter, the board approved the district's participation in the Kiwanis backpack program. The program, which will be run by the Seward Kiwanis Club, will provide backpacks full of food to families in need with students in Seward Elementary School.
     Fosler, who is a Kiwanis member, said the program would be like the Meals on Wheels, made up of a core group of volunteers. She said she spoke to the club president who didn't think finding people to help would be a problem.
     Board members discussed possible confidentiality issues, and Williams suggested using a backpack insert so it wouldn't be as obvious which children were participating in the program.
     Uhing reminded the board that the district is just allowing the Kiwanis Club to use the elementary school to distribute the backpacks; the district is not running the program.
     In an unrelated matter, Uhing reported on her meeting with the Seward City Council Dec. 19 about paving the south parking lot at the high school.
     When the new gym and theater were built, the council had given the school district an additional five years to pave the south lot. That five-year period has ended, and the council wanted to know when the lot would be paved. Plans were drawn at the time the addition was planned, but the cost for the parking lot was not included in the bonds issued for the expansion project.
     Although Uhing did not have a cost estimate for the council or the school board, she said paving the lot would be a "significant cost" to the district. Other concerns discussed at the council meeting included traffic and street lighting in the area.
     Elizabeth Gabel, the student representative on the school board, said the south lot is not the best place to park after a rain and traffic can be difficult to negotiate.
     "It gets muddy and it's hard to get out," she said, adding that "Fifth Street is very hectic in the morning."
     Fifth Street runs between the United Methodist Church and the parking lot and dead ends at the school property.
     Bob Blevens, the district attorney, told the board that the city's ordinance requires hard-surfaced parking lots. However, he said, eminent domain powers supercede the city ordinance. Because the school district has the power of eminent domain, he said, that power supersedes local ordinances.
     "I don't think you're in violation of the law by delaying," he said.
     When the lot was discussed five years ago, the city council and school district considered closing Northern Heights between the school and the lot. However, Fosler and Boardmember Ryne Seaman said, residents of the area did not like that solution.
     Fosler, who lives on Second Street, said residents were concerned about more traffic on Second Street. In addition, Northern Heights is one of the few streets in that area with access to Highway 15.
     Seaman, who was a council member at the time, said he received more calls about the proposed street closing than any other project while he was on the council.
     Pekarek said the district "needs to fall back on the master plan, so we don't do a bunch of work and then have to tear it back out."
     Board members suggested waiting for further discussion until they know how much state aid the district will receive. Marilyn Smith, district business manager, said that number should be available by mid-February.
     In another matter, the board reviewed the report from the facility committee and discussed possible future projects, including new bleachers at the Seward High football field. Members of the Seward Booster Club have also talked about new bleachers, but so far the project has been cost-prohibitive for them.
     "The Booster Club is enthusiastic about the bleachers, but they can't do it alone," Pekarek said.
     He said the club has considered selling advertising to help fund the project.
     Seaman suggested looking at ways to take advantage of the facilities at Concordia University.
     Uhing said the district should revisit its facilities audit and look at trends to help set priorities for projects like the bleachers.
     The board agreed to put the matter on the study session agenda for its Monday, Feb. 12, meeting.
     In other business, the board:
     - elected Garske president, Seaman vice president and Joe Huber secretary of the board and appointed Smith as treasurer;
     - approved the first reading of a policy related to donations of materials, products and chemicals;
     - appointed the superintendent as the chief executive officer of the district and Seward's representative for state and federal programs;
     - recognized the Seward Education Association as the official bargaining agent for the teachers of the district for 2007-08;
     - approved an out-of-state travel request for the Winterguard for a competition in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Saturday, Feb. 24;
     - designated the Cattle National Bank and Trust Company and the Jones National Bank and Trust Company as depositories for school district funds;
     - accepted the resignation of teacher Dana Schaefer effective immediately; and
     - approved the consent agenda.
     The next meeting will be Monday, Feb. 12, with a study session at 5:30 p.m. and the regular meeting at 7 p.m.