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Dave Means, Director of Educational Services at Whitefish Schools, has been named the district’s Interim Superintendent.

The Whitefish School Board on Wednesday announced their decision to offer Means the position following three days of interviewing four candidates to in the search for a replacement for current Superintendent Heather Davis Schmidt, who is resigning.

Following the four public interviews and community meet-and-greets earlier in the week, the board made an offer to one candidate, who declined for personal reasons.

Board chair Nick Polumbus said that moving forward with Means as interim superintendent seemed the best option.

“It became clear to us after discussion with the administrative team that the best choice for the district at this time was to offer Dave Means the position of interim superintendent,” Polumbus said in a release. “Dave will provide stability, as well as continuity, and will uphold our collective high standards.”

Means current position will be filled for the same interim period, according to the district.

As Director of Educational Services, Means supervises the special education programs and roughly 50 employees for the district, overseeing section 504 plans for students with disabilities, supporting human resources, working on homelessness and mental health services.

He has worked for the district for 16 years and in 2018 received the CSPD Leadership Award for Region V in Montana.

Means said while he had discussed potentially stepping in as an interim superintendent in previous discussions, he wasn’t expecting the offer from the district last week.

“I was very surprised,” he said. “I hadn’t applied to be the superintendent, though I have said I would do that if I was asked to on an interim basis. I’m honored to be ask to do that and I’m excited to serve in that role next year.”

Means will start in the new role on July 1.

It’s an interesting time to start a new educational role, he noted, as the school this week scrambles to prepare a remote teaching setup after Gov. Steve Bullock closed Montana schools for the next two weeks to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

“Right now I’m so thankful to be with this team, with Heather and the whole administrative staff just working together on this,” Means said. “It’s truly a time to come together and work together to come up with creative solutions to providing education services to students.”

Ray & Associates, a national executive search firm, has lead search for a new superintendent, and will continue to assist the board in the ongoing search.

Davis Schmidt’s contract will end on June 30, when Means will transition into the interim role.