DOWAGIAC — Dowagiac Union Schools have chosen a new leader.

At the end of the second round of superintendent interviews, the Dowagiac Union Schools Board of Education offered Johnathon Whan the superintendent position, pending contract negotiations.

The board unanimously selected Whan, the current superintendent at Grant Public Schools, out of three final candidates including Kelly Millin, the high school principal at Dowagiac Union High School, and Greg Blomgren, the high school principal at St. Joseph Public Schools.

In the second round of interviews, Whan answered more in-depth questions from the board and the public. In his first interview, Whan described educating the “whole” child, which the board wanted him to elaborate on.

“The whole child is critical. It includes the academics, it includes extracurricular activities, their interests, it includes citizenship, work skills, attendance and grit,” Whan said. “The key is no two children are alike and their needs need to be known by the staff. The whole child is looking at the whole child, mentally, physically, socially.”

With Dowagiac Union Schools facing issues of declining enrollment, the board asked how he would address the issue.

“The first thing I would ask for is data to determine the most recent students we’ve lost, and then develop a process to reach out and find out why,” Whan said. “I would see if there is a pattern for issues or concerns, and try to address them if we can. It’s very important to develop a way to sell your story about the quality things that are happening well in this district. We have to get into marketing, we have to get into advertising. We have to be willing to stand up and say, ‘yes Dowagiac is a great place to be.’ It is a place where you want to live and raise your children. It is a place to become a destination school district.”

Lastly, the board wanted to hear Whan’s philosophy towards recruitment, hiring, development, retention and support of staff.

“When you have positions you need to fill, you need to meet the needs of your kids,” Whan said. “You have to have proper assessment of what you are looking for. To be very clear, I’m a firm believer in when you are recruiting staff, that you are recruiting people who have multiple talents,” Whan said.

After reviewing all three candidates’ writing samples and the public’s feedback surveys, the board discussed each of the candidate’s references.

“Johnathon gave two very good interviews and one of the things that impressed me with him was that he seemed to do a little more homework on Dowagiac, keeping in mind he needs to get a job,” said board treasurer Ronald Jones. “He did say it was important to move here with his children in school and shop in town whenever possible. He strikes me as someone who is strong. Some people might be afraid of that, but it’s only strong people that are going to move us to where we want to go.”

Board President Larry Schmidt noticed a difference between the interview skills of the candidates.

“[Whan] talked about promoting, marketing, and that makes a whole lot of sense, especially in light of the fact that we are close to the completion of a bond issue,” Schmidt said. “I think, if nothing else, we listened to three interviews today. Two of them were current principals, one was a current superintendent. There is a pretty big step between a principal-ship and a superintendency, and I think we could hear that. Good, bad or ugly.”

Ruth Ausra, vice president of the board, shared details of her conversations with two of Whan’s references.

“The first gentleman was Paul Roberts. He’s a retired board member, he’s been a board member for 25 years and he hired Johnathon,” Ausra said. “He had nothing but good things to say about Johnathon. He said, ‘Grant’s loss is Dowagiac’s gain.’ … His three strongest qualities are negotiations. He’s a master at conflict resolution and finance. The other reference, Randy Robinson, said the same things.”

Trustee Terry Groth expressed his reservations about Whan and his job hopping.

“As someone most loyal to Dowagiac, it doesn’t have a great look to me at all,” Groth said.

Jay Bennet, the Michigan Association of School Boards assistant director of executive search services, said it is not unusual for a teacher to seek administrator opportunities in other districts if there are none available to them in their current district.

“We know that the employment sector is a lot more fluid than it ever used to be,” Bennet said.

Bennet reminded the board of the selection criteria they started the process with, including leadership, bond management, a record of success, data-driven decision making, and being a strong advocate for all learners.

“One of the things you read off says all children,” said trustee Carrie Freeman. “I know Johnathon represented that well in his answers advocating for vocational or even just knowing each student. That’s just one point that stood out.”

The final statement before the board voted came from Schmidt, who summed up Whan’s experience.

“It’s easier to hire Whan than it is to work with either of the other two, simply based on his knowledge and history as a superintendent. That speaks volumes,” Schmidt said.

In a first vote to go into pending contract negotiations with Johnathon Whan, six board members voted yes, while Groth expressed his reservations and voted no, leaving two board members unsure about making a decision on Monday night.

“I think we should make a decision tonight,” Jones said. “Just because you pick someone, it’s still pending big reference checks and contract agreements. In the meantime, someone else you might live with could be the next superintendent, if that doesn’t work out. In my mind, all six people could be superintendent. They all in their own way did a great job.”

A re-vote was offered by the board to show the candidate a united front and issue the board’s full support, per Bennet’s recommendation.

In a re-vote, the board unanimously voted yes.

Lastly, Bennet recommended the board host an open house for Whan to meet the community and also to hold discussions about the negotiations of a contract.