By Jamie Ausk Crisafulli
Ranger-Review Staff Writer
The Glendive Unified School Board narrowed the list of superintendent candidates to four Tuesday night and will set up interviews with each for later this month.
Two of the candidates are from Dawson County. Stephen Schreibeis is currently the principal at Jefferson Elementary School. Stephen Engebretson is currently the Dawson County Superintendent of Schools, a position that oversees the county’s rural school districts.
The other candidates are Thad Kaiser, who currently serves as the superintendent of Noxon School District, and Matt Schriver, who served as the superintendent in Fairview before going to work as a human resources manager for Chaznline Construction in Sidney three years ago.
After reviewing the applications, board members each submitted a list of their top candidates. Joe Brott with the Montana School Boards Association, who is working with the board on the search, tallied the numbers and presented them to the board.
Board members went back and forth on the number of candidates they wanted to set up interviews with.
Brott noted that one of the top candidates “may have been offered a job, like yesterday,” so school board members had that to consider when deciding if they were going to interview the top three or top four candidates
Based on the knowledge they could end up with just two of the top three candidates, the board decided to interview their top four.
However, all candidates accepted the opportunity to interview when contacted by Brott Tuesday night.
Interviews will take place April 24 and 25, with two scheduled for each evening. The interviews are open to the public and will be held in the Dawson County High School auditorium. A public reception with all four finalists will be held at the Holiday Inn Express on April 24. A complete interview schedule will be published next week.
Following is information on each of the finalists:
Engebretson has served as Dawson County Superintendent of Schools since 2006. Previous to this position, Engebretson served as a multi-grade elementary teacher in Lindsay, a second grade classroom teacher in Canyon Creek Elementary School by Billings, and as a multi-grade classroom teacher at Spring Creek School in Decker. Engebretson received his Broadfield Social Sciences degree from MSU-Billings, an elementary endorsement from MSU-Billings, and his Masters of Education in administration with a superintendent’s endorsement from the University of Montana. Engebretson has been involved in many community organizations as a volunteer and board member. He has been in education for 20 years.
Schreibeis is currently the elementary principal at Jefferson Elementary School in Glendive. Schreibeis came to Glendive in 2014 as the assistant principal of DCHS. Prior to this time, he served as the assistant principal at Laurel High School. Prior to that he served as the assistant principal and math teacher at Yerington Intermediate School in Yerington, Nev. Schreibeis received his bachelors degree in education from Mayville State University, Mayville, N.D. with a major in mathematics and a minor in business. He received his Masters of Education, principal endorsement, from Grand Canyon University, Phoenix, Ariz. Schreibeis is pursuing his superintendent endorsement at this time. He has been in education for the past 12 years.
Kaiser is currently the superintendent in Noxon. He has served as superintendent for the Chester-JI School District in Chester, principal/AD for Sun River Valley School District in Simms and was a teacher for the St. Labre School for 11 years. Kaiser received his bachelors degree in education from Montana State University, Bozeman, with a degree in Broadfield Social Science. He received his Educational Leadership degree (principal and superintendent endorsements) also from Montana State University. Kaiser has been in education for 21 years.
Schriver is the human resource director for Chaznline Construction in Sidney. He spent 25 years in Montana public education with his most recent position being superintendent of schools in Fairview. He also served as the junior high/high school principal in Wolf Point, a teacher/coach in Gardiner, and a teacher/coach in Lambert. Schriver received his bachelors degree in education from Dickinson State University with a degree in PE/History. He received his Masters in Educational Leadership from Montana State University.
Reach Jamie Ausk Crisafulli at rreditor@rangerreview.com.