By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

The Hays USD 489 school board voted Monday night to hire the Kansas Association of School Boards to assist in a search for a new superintendent.

Superintendent John Thissen gave his letter of resignation to the board on Oct. 19. He will finish out his current contract, which runs through June 30.

Thissen cited personal reasons for his resignation.

The district had bids from three entities to aid in the search: Kansas Association of School Boards, $5,850; McPherson and Jacobson, $4,850, which also included other fees for a total of about $13,350; and Ray and Associates, $24,250. Ray and Associates specializes in multi-state searches.

Board members Mandy Fox and Greg Schwartz voted against moving forward with KASB. Schwartz said he was impressed with the schools McPherson and Jacobson had recently worked with, many of which were similar in size to Hays.

The board has worked with KASB on previous searches.

Board member Luke Oborny said he appreciated KASB work in the past.

“I don’t believe KASB steered us wrong in the past, except he decided to leave too soon,” Oborny said.

The board will likely meet with KASB representatives in December to start working on the search.