Finalists candidates to be the next superintendent of schools at South Tama County were announced Thursday. The candidates include (pictured, l-r) John Cain, Jacqueline Wyant and Lisa Hartman.

The South Tama County Board of Education today announced three candidates that are the finalists to be the next superintendent of South Tama schools.

The finalists are Lisa Hartman, Jacqueline Wyant and John Cain.

The search began in early February following the news that current superintendent Jared Smith would be taking a job as the superintendent of the Waterloo Community School District starting in July.

A total of 18 applicants filed for the opening at South Tama, which is the same amount the district drew in in 2018 when they ultimately hired Smith to replace interim superintendent Jeff Berger.

None of the candidates hold superintendent experience with two of them working currently as principals and the third a director for Prairie Lakes AEA who came to the position with prior principal experience.

Lisa Hartman serves as director of educational services for the Prairie Lakes Area Education Agency where she oversees day-to-day project coordination, planning, and implementation across multiple teams. She also supervises the work of consultants and staff and ensures the agency provides the best service possible to its member school districts. Hartman previously served as middle school principal for the Nevada school district and a PK-4th grade principal and 7th-12th grade principal within the former Farragut Community School District in southwest Iowa.

Jacqueline Wyant is the principal of Marshalltown High School, where her focus has been on improving the school climate, implementing a freshman mentorship program, and providing rich professional development opportunities to staff. She has also led efforts to expand career and college readiness initiatives at the school. Last year Wyant was named a finalist for the SAI 2021 Iowa Secondary Principal of the Year award. She has previously served as principal and assistant principal of West High School in Sioux City, Iowa. She also has experience as a math teacher.

John Cain is the school principal at Grant Wood Elementary in the Bettendorf Community School District. Cain has focused on opening up professional development opportunities for staff, building community connections, and using data to serve as a transformational school leader. He has created professional learning communities that allow staff to learn from one another and continue improving on behalf of students. Cain was a finalist for superintendent openings at Lone Tree and West Liberty in 2021 and was a finalist for the Decorah superintendent opening last month. Cain previously served as elementary principal and curriculum director in the Calamus-Wheatland CSD.

Finalist interviews and campus tours will be conducted next Tuesday, March 29. Candidates will be interviewed by three different panels made up of school staff, students and community members. The board of education is expected to meet in closed session Tuesday night following the interviews and an offer could come as early as Wednesday.

Should the board and one of the finalists agree to an offer next week, the hire would be formally approved at the board’s next regular meeting on April 4. Details of the new superintendent contract should also be available at that time.

South Tama County has been aided in their search by Grundmeyer Leader Services, a Huxley-based consulting firm the school contracted at an estimated cost of around $12,000. Grundmeyer Leader Services is the same company that worked with the school on the 2018 superintendent search.