Eau Claire (WQOW) - The Eau Claire school district is one step closer to finding its next superintendent of schools.
The search is down to Dr. Mary Ann Hardebeck and Dr. Mark Mitrovich. The public met Tuesday night for a second forum. Monday night Dr. Hardebeck was in town and Tuesday it was Dr. Mitrovich's chance to meet with residents.
News 18 asked him why he chose Eau Claire.
Dr. Mitrovich spent the past three years as a superintendent of a schools in Illinois. Previously he was in Washington. He says one of the reasons Eau Claire sparked his interest is the quality of life.
Tuesday he had the chance to tour schools in Eau Claire and meet with different administrators.
There were about fifty people at Memorial High School where the event was held. Many of the same people who attended Monday night's forum showed up again Tuesday and had questions for Dr. Mitrovich. Some asked about his pervious experience. Others wondered -- how he would handle things like equity issues and language barriers. Dr. Mitrovich says the question and answer session was a good opportunity for him to learn the needs of the community.
Dr. Mitrovich says, "You're constantly taking in everything that you hear, I mean there is a message in the question. So what is the message in the question, what's behind the question? So I think the better those questions are, the more you're learning at the same time you are trying to share things with them."
"He's been in communities where there were issues in the school district that really needed to be addressed and he found a creative way with a team approach to solve those problems and things came out better. So I think he would do an excellent job and bring all kinds of new ideas to our district," says Eau Claire resident, Kate Mullins.
Afterwards, those in attendance could fill out a feedback form that will be given to the school board for review.
Many of the people News 18 spoke with afterward says the board has done a good job selecting the two candidates. They also say, they both have very different styles.
The school board plans to hold a meeting Wednesday night to talk about the finalists. They could make a decision at that meeting.
