The current Flathead High School principal and the former superintendent for Fair-Mont-Egan School are among the three finalists to be the next superintendent for Whitefish School District.

Current Superintendent Dave Means will retire at the end of the school year after six years at the helm of Whitefish schools.

The candidates who will interview for the job are Brandy Carlenzoli, Michele Paine and Jennifer Fee.  

Carlenzoli, from Kalispell, resigned as superintendent of Fair-Mont-Egan School last year, after three years in the position. Carlenzoli has 15-plus years of consulting and administrative experience.  

Paine, also from Kalispell, has been the principal of Flathead High School since the fall of 2017, first serving as an interim, then being officially selected in March 2018. Prior, she was Flathead’s assistant principal for about six years.  

Fee is from Grand Rapids, Michigan, and began her current role as assistant superintendent of instructional services at Kent Independent School District in August 2024. The Kent district serves nine schools and about 100,000 students. Previously, Fee led St. Joseph Public Schools for three years, a smaller district with about 2,900 students, in a destination lake city of about 8,000 people. 

Whitefish School District used the services of McPherson and Jacobson to assist in the candidate search. On Feb. 12, the consultants presented the applicants to the school board, and trustees selected the three finalists. 

Shar Johns, a Montana-based consultant, said McPherson and Jacobson worked out search criteria with the board prior to beginning the process.  

According to the search criteria, the board wants a student-centered, forward-thinking leader, who is organized and communicative.  

“We’re looking for somebody who is confident in their decision making, understands instructional leadership, is strong in board leadership and governance, and understands how to take action from policies,” Johns said. “Somebody who can help create a culture of kindness, empathy and high standards for Whitefish.” 

Johns said they had 19 applications. In initial conversations and interviews, they wanted candidates to understand what life is like in Whitefish.  

Final interviews for the three candidates are scheduled for March 4 and 5.  

Shars said she will be collecting feedback from stakeholders including administrators, staff and the public on March 4 and 5, to inform the board’s final decision.  

The board intends to make its selection by March 5. 

After the superintendent has been hired, the consultants will facilitate a board/superintendent workshop to assist in the establishment of performance objectives for the new superintendent.