ROCK SPRINGS – Sweetwater County School District No. 1 wants to assure residents that the board will have a talent pool qualified to replace Superintendent Kelly McGovern when she retires later this year.

The district emailed a statement from the district’s board of trustees chairwoman Carol Jelaco addressing social media comments made regarding previously reported statements Jelaco made during the trustees’ monthly meeting Monday.

“I appreciate those concerns and want to clarify where we stand on this,” she said.

Jelaco said districts receive fewer applications for school superintendent positions than they used to, a trend she says has grown for several years. A 2018 U.S. News & World Report article she cites in the email states superintendent positions used to draw between 50 and 100 applicants on average, but many districts “are now lucky to receive 10 to 20.”

Jelaco also reiterated that the board itself selects the candidate, not the Wyoming School Boards Association and said the association isn’t a head-hunting firm that places applicants. She also said the district’s process casts a wide net and targets candidates, which utilizes the association to post the district’s opening to top job recruitment websites for superintendent searches. She said the School Superintendents Association and EdWeek’s Top School, along with other networks, give exposure to more than 1,400 educational institutions. She also said the community will have a voice in the hiring process as well.

“Our community will have an important voice in the final choice. Once we’ve reached the interview stage with our finalists, we’ll have a community forum with each one of the candidates, a staff forum, and a lunch with the administrative staff,” Jelaco said.

Jelaco concluded her statement by saying she promises the board will not settle until it has found the best finalists to present to the community.

“And we will then listen to your feedback about our finalists before ultimately making a selection,” she said.