Brandywine Community Schools has officially begun the search for a new superintendent.

Current Supt. John Jarpe announced last month he would retire when his contract expires at the end of the 2016/17 school year, giving the school board several months to find his replacement.

Gary Rider, the regional president for the Michigan Leadership Institute, was hired by the board to lead the search. He is a former Brandywine superintendent.

“I’ve been preaching to the board that they don’t want to settle and to make sure the person they hire is the right person for the school district,” he said, adding that the board is interested in getting feedback from parents, students, staff and the community about what qualities they want to see in their next superintendent.

On Wednesday, Rider facilitated multiple focus group meetings and a community forum to gather feedback.

Rider said he met with more than 80 people over the course of the day, including students, teachers, administrators, staff and community members.

The district is also gathering input through an online survey containing the following questions:

• What are the points of pride for the district and community?

• What are the challenges facing the district and community?

• What talents, qualities and skills does the next superintendent need to possess?

The survey is accessible from the school district’s website and will remain active through 4 p.m. Wednesday, June 8.

“We have had tremendous response to the survey online,” he said, adding that they’ve had 57 responses to the survey as of Friday morning. “We are hoping to have 60 or 70, so it looks like we will get there pretty easily.”

The information, Rider said, would be used to develop a profile the board will use to assess superintendent candidates.

“The profile is what this is all about and that’s why developing the profile is so important,” he said. “They don’t measure the candidates against each other, they measure them against the profile.”

Although the schedule remains flexible, Rider said he hopes to have the profile finished before the end of the month. It will be available to the public.

Rider said the board would open the search to internal candidates (people already working in the district) July 1.

Rider said an internal candidate, if selected, would have the opportunity to prepare for the transition by training alongside Jarpe next school year.

Rider said he met with all of the district’s administrators Wednesday and told them if they are interested in the position that they should call him to talk through some of the details of what would be needed to apply.

As of Friday morning, Rider said he had not received word from any potential internal candidates.

“Nothing official from anybody, but we are a ways from that,” he said. “We wouldn’t even announce that until the board decided who they would interview.”

Rider said he is confident there are at least one or two internal candidates interested in the job, but did not name names.

If no internal candidates are selected, Rider said the board would have the option of opening up the search to people outside the district. He said he stressed to the board that it is better to hire no one than to hire the wrong person.

Rider said in the unlikely event that the board does not find the right person for the job, he would help the board find a long term interim to fill the position until a permanent superintendent is found.

Tentative schedule for the search is included below:

• July 1 — Internal Posting

• July 15 — Application deadline

• July 18 — First round interviews

• July 25 — Possible second round interviews