Meet the elementary school principal candidates tonight

Interested patrons of Big Horn County School District No. 2 are invited to attend a community forum tonight (Thursday, March 14) to meet, question and hear from three finalists for the Lovell Elementary School principal position, coming open at the end of the school year with the retirement of Scott O’Tremba.
The forum at the high school multipurpose room will begin with a meet and greet at 6 p.m., followed by the forum beginning around 6:15, during which three finalists will come before the public one at a time.
According to Superintendent Doug Hazen, around 20 individuals started the application process, and 13 completed applications. The applications were narrowed to three finalists.
“That was a really good turnout for us,” Hazen said. “I think it was a deep pool.”
Hazen said three committees have been formed. An eight-person screening committee examined all of the applicants and narrowed the list to the three finalists. A process committee has been developing questions, guiding principles for the selection and attributes the district desires in a principal, along with the process for tonight’s forum.
An interview committee composed of Hazen, school board member Stacy Bair and five staff members – three teachers and two classified staff members – is interviewing the three finalists Thursday ahead of the public forum.
The finalists are:
• Christopher Jensen, a current elementary principal for Yakima County School District No. 7 in Yakima, Washington;
• Lydia McCracken, a fifth-grade teacher at Rocky Mountain Elementary School in Cowley; and
• Jeremy Laing, a Title 1 teacher for Park County School District No. 6 in Cody.
Those attending the forum will be able to submit questions for the finalists using forms available at the forum or ahead of time via the school district website – www.bgh2.org. Candidates will come out one at a time to answer questions following introductory remarks. Hazen said each finalist session will last 15 to 20 minutes.
At the end of the forum, feedback forms will be passed out to be filled out immediately on paper or via a QR code regarding impressions of and opinions on the three finalists.
The interview committee will then meet in the board room to make a formal recommendation to the school board, which will meet on Wednesday, March 20, to discuss and vote to approve the new principal.
Prior to the public forum, the three candidates will tour the school individually on Thursday morning with members of the LES student council, who will be able to submit feedback forms for review. The tours will be followed by roundtable interviews in the LES Conference Room, along with the candidates observing teachers in the classroom.
Later, from 4 to 5 p.m., LES staff members will attend meet the candidates forums in the library and selected classrooms. Each candidate will be able to speak to small groups of staff members for 15 minutes before rotating to another group. Staff members will submit feedback forms.
All feedback forms will be reviewed by the interview committee during the Thursday night selection/recommendation meeting.