BOONE, Iowa—The three finalist for the position of Superintendent for the Boone Community School District will be interviewed today. The Boone School Board has two-special meetings scheduled, one at 12:00 p.m. and the second at 4:00 p.m. The first will be for the interview process which will also include three-committees established by the board to participate in the interview process. Earlier this month, School Board President, Dr. Brian Mehlhaus had said about 150 people volunteered to take part in the interviews and the board narrowed it down to three-groups of 14, 42 total. The three-committees are a mixture of district administrators, staff, parents and community members. The board hopes to be able to approve a contract with a new superintendent this evening.
The three finalist are:
Mike Van Sickle – Mike currently serves as the Superintendent for the Louisa-Muscatine School
District. He has served as the district superintendent for the last 8 years. Prior, he served the
Odgen School District as Middle School Principal and Activities Director. He also has
experience being the President of Van Sickle Construction Company in Boone, IA. Other
education experiences include elementary/middle school principal experience in two different
districts in Kansas, teacher, and coach. He has supported teacher leadership and compensation
(TLC) and professional learning communities (PLC) that have resulted in academic gains in his
district. Mike has experience in district facilities planning, budgeting, technology
implementation, behavior modification, and he developed a rubric for helping the school board
set district goals.
Julie Trepa – Julie currently serves as a Shared Superintendent for the West Monona and West
Harrison School Districts. She has served in this capacity for the last three years where she has
improved the financial stability of the districts. Her prior experience includes serving the
Bettendorf School District as an elementary principal for 15 years. She also has experience as an
associate elementary principal, special education teacher and math teacher. She serves on the
Iowa Department of Education Social-Emotional Advisory Council and has recently worked
with community agencies and the Area Education Agency (AEA) to provide mental health
services to students at no cost. She was named Iowa Elementary Principal of the Year by School
Administrators of Iowa, and she was also named a National Distinguished Principal.
Thomas Messinger – Tom currently serves as the Superintendent for the Red Oak Community
School District in Red Oak, IA. He has served the district for the last five years. His prior
experience includes serving as a high school principal for Burlington School District. He also
has experience as an activities director, assistant principal, math teacher, and coach. He led a
$29 million bond issue in Red Oak resulting in new facilities for the district while improving the
financial condition of the district. He was recently named 2019 Administrator of the Year from
the Iowa Association of Agriculture Educators and Outstanding Administrator by the Iowa
Association for Career and Technical Education.
