City Times Staff

Members of the Stevens Point School Board are gearing up for a lengthy meeting on Monday night, when they are finally expected to vote on which of two candidates they want to hire as superintendent.

Two individuals, Jack Stoskopf, Jr. and Kehl Arnson, made the final cut from a pool of about 30 applicants for the spot. The position became available when Superintendent Attila Weninger announced last year he would resign in June, 2015.

Jack Stoskopf, Jr. (Contributed photo)

Stoskopf is currently the Assistant Superintendent for Business/Personnel Services in the D.C. Everest Area School District, a post he has held since 2010. Stoskopf has over 32 years of experience in education, with 27 of those years in the Stevens Point School District. He previously taught at local junior high schools, as well as Kennedy and McKinley elementary schools, and formerly served the district as assistant superintendent of operations.

Kehl Arnson is the Director of Secondary Education for the Stevens Point School District, a post he has held since 2013. Arnson has over 26 years of experience in education, first as a classroom English teacher, then as a principal and curriculum director, with past experience in administration in southern Wisconsin and Cobb County, Georgia.

School Board President Angel Faxon said the public was invited to complete an anonymous online survey with their thoughts on the two candidates, following a public meet and greet with Stoskopf and Arnson on March 11.

The Board also invited the public to give their opinions during a listening session on March 23, but that meeting yielded only two citizens who said they came just to listen.

during a tour of Jackson Elementary School in February. (City Times photo)

“Most people probably felt more comfortable giving their feedback anonymously,” Faxon said.

Weninger announced last May he would resign at the end of the 2014-15 school year. The Board did not begin its search for a replacement until November.

In the interim, Board members spent several weeks considering moving forward without a superintendent, instead running the district as a Board-run operation. Board members later voted down that option and in November began working with Iowa-based Ray and Associates to conduct a nationwide search at a cost of $16,000.

Monday’s meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 PM in Bliss Educational Services Center, 1900 Polk Street. The public is welcome to attend.