CLARA CITY -- The MACCRAY School Board has offered its superintendent position to Gregory Schmidt of Mankato.
The board will consider a tentative contract agreement with Schmidt at its May 20 meeting, said Chairman Tim Smith of Raymond.
The current superintendent, Gary Spawn, plans to leave the district when his contract expires on June 30.
Schmidt is coordinator at RiverBend Academy, a public charter school in Mankato. He was one of two finalists for the job. The other was John Haas, an elementary principal in the Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City School District.
Schmidt should start working in the district this summer, Smith said.
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"We had some really good candidates," Smith said. "The people on the committee just felt Gregory Schmidt fit the best. ... I'm looking forward to working with him."
Schmidt will work with the board as MACCRAY enters discussions with other area districts about possible shared services.
So far, some boards have met to discuss possibilities, but no decisions have been made. Some ideas have included coordinating some staff training and findings ways to share administrative or support staff.
"I think probably everyone would like to stay on their own," Smith said, "but we need to look at ways of sharing if the economics demand it."
Some of the ideas raised so far are interesting, but it will take a lot of study and public discussion before major changes are made, he added.
"It's not something that's going to happen overnight," he said.
"The main thing is to do the best for the kids in the rural areas here."
