The Brookings School Board made a formal offer to hire a new superintendent following a special meeting and interview process on Saturday at Mickelson Middle School. 

Summer Schultz, currently the superintendent in Dell Rapids, verbally accepted the board’s offer Saturday afternoon. Pending a signed contract, Schultz will take over as superintendent for the Brookings School District in July. 

“It was a good day, there was a lot of really positive energy,” School Board President Keli Books said Sunday. “The board is pleased to announce they have offered a contract and that Dr. Schultz verbally accepted.”

Books said the new position would be a step up for Schultz, who Books called a “strong, proven leader, with a strong background of results in safety and communication” and who Books said was drawn to the Brookings district for the opportunity to to work in a bigger district and collaborate with some of the longstanding groups active in Brookings.

Books said Schultz would participate in the hiring of a new principal at Brookings High School — to fill the position vacated by Paul von Fischer — as well as the athletic director position vacated by Mike Jewett.

“We’re excited for her to get her team in place and get to work,” Books said, while noting the district would miss the outgoing administrators. 

Books also said she wanted to thank the volunteers who formed the advisory groups who interviewed the candidates on Saturday. 

“We got really good feedback, and we took it beyond seriously,” Books said. “It was a long day for all of us but we trusted the process we had in place and in the end we’re very happy to have a successful search.”

The board chose Schultz from a group of four candidates who interviewed for the job Saturday. Following the protocol of Dakota Education Consulting, who the board appointed for the superintendent search, the four candidates met with four different groups — each comprised of 10-15 members — for around 45 minutes each, according to participants. 

Members of the advisory groups were:

The parent and community group comprised of: Dan Nelson, Paul Barnes, Kate Treiber, Pat Reger, Bob Jostad, Tim Reed, Mike Holbeck, Lt. Terry Coon, Seth Sayler, Cam Jones and Nick Wendell. 

An administrative group represented by: Amanda Kesteloot, Laura Gerjets, Heather Asmussen, Laura Swier, Nate Loehr, Jason Smidt, Tanna Stadler, Michelle Vande Weerd, Chris Gruenhagen, Shannon Smith, Sarah Weber, Camrin Vaux, Todd Foster, Matt Christir and Paul von Fischer.

A teachers group including: Tyler Schneider, Amanda Chapman, Amy Nielson, Jan Schallenkamp, Andrea Fish, Gabe Schwartz, Tami Varpness, Ginger Bothe, Melissa Anderson, Josh Johnson, Darcy Vincent, Amy Lease and Kyleigh Cramer.

The school board was represented by: Keli Books, Wes Tschetter, Deb DeBates, Teresa Binkley, Teri Johnson and business manager Brian Lueders. 

The superintendent position came open when Klint Willert abruptly resigned at a School Board meeting on March 22. Documents subsequently released by the board showed Willert had been notified March 8 that he must resign or be terminated for cause.

Willert’s resignation is effective in June.

Linehan is the Register’s managing editor and welcomes comments at jlinehan@brookingsregister.com