In a unanimous decision Monday evening the Lebanon School Board agreed to contract with the Oregon School Board Association (OSBA) to help conduct the search for interim and permanent superintendents.

The board had the option to contract separately for each position. A search for an interim superintendent could have cost as much as $3,450. The $10,000 cost of a permanent superintendent search includes the interim position at no extra cost.

Betsy Miller-Jones of the OSBA told the board she has a list of several potential interim candidates to contact. Most are retired school administrators.

The board will begin reviewing applications on Oct. 27 and choose which candidates to interview at a special meeting on Oct. 29.

An interim superintendent will start no later than Dec. 1. Miller-Jones told board members it was possible to accelerate the process to have the position filled by mid-November.

The search for a full time superintendent is expected to take several months.

As of Monday, Seven Oak principal Ed Sansom is the only person to have applied to replace former superintendent Jim Robinson, who resigned on Oct. 6.

Assistant Superintendent Steve Kelley is the acting superintendent until the board appoints the interim superintendent. Kelley said to help facilitate the search and hiring process he was not applying for either position.

"I want to serve this board in a collaborative fashion. I think it would have been a stretch for me to be the person," Kelley said. "This community needs a fresh start."

Kelley said he was unsure whether he would stay in Lebanon past the end of this year or seek a superintendent position elsewhere. His current contract expires on June 30, 2010.

The board met Oct. 15 and again Monday to take public input on what qualities and qualifications the community wants in a superintendent. Lebanon City Councilor Ray Weldon, retired teacher Lynden Brown and Lebanon resident Laura Baker also gathered ideas at a meeting on Oct. 14.

At the suggestion of several audience members and vice chair Rick Alexander, the board agreed to hold public interviews with interim superintendent candidates.

"There isn't a better way to develop public trust than having public interviews," Alexander said.

The majority of those who spoke at the meetings favored hiring a local candidate to fill the interim position.

David Champion, speaking on behalf of a parent group working to solve the "math crisis" at the high school, said someone who is familiar with the issues facing Lebanon schools would be a great asset.

The board agreed that all candidates from within the district will automatically qualify for an interview.

John "Tre" Kennedy, president of Lebanon CARES, the political action committee that led an unsuccessful recall attempt of board members of Alexander and Josh Wineteer, urged the board to hire someone from outside the district who didn't have "a dog in the fight."

< B> < B>Sansom accused Kennedy of calling his former school district in Montana and asking the board chair there for derogatory information about him, leading to cries of "shame on you" from an audience member.

< B> < B>Kennedy said he passed along both good and bad information he received to board member Russ McUne. < B>

< B> Wineteer asked audience members to act in a civil and professional manner after a discussion in the back of the room led one parent to use profanity.

Comments collected on what qualities and qualifications the community wants in a new superintendent can be viewed on the district's web page at www.lebanon.k12.or.us.

The next meeting of the Lebanon School Board is at 6 p.m. on Oct. 29 at the district office, 485 S. Fifth St.