Over the past few months, the Albert Lea School District has been interviewing and hiring candidates for teaching positions. With seven extra kindergarten teachers needed for the new all-day, every-day program, along with normal annual retirements, the school is filling 12 positions.

But some district residents have raised concerns about who the district has hired.

These citizens, none of whom were willing to be interviewed about the issue, think local teachers are being passed over. They believe that many of the local applicants were lost out to outsiders with the same qualifications &045; or less.

Superintendent Dave Prescott said the district never takes proximity into account unless two candidates are equally qualified.

Some candidates who didn’t get jobs had substituted in the district for years, and others had taught kindergarten at other schools.

&uot;Our hiring practices are as sound as any,&uot; Prescott said in reaction to those concerns. &uot;We always use interview teams and almost every one of these teams has the appropriate staff on them.&uot;

The district, for hiring teachers, usually has the principal of the school applied to, and teachers from the grade in which there is an open position, on the hiring committees.

&uot;We hire local people all the time,&uot; Prescott said. &uot;But it is because, and only because, they are the best candidate for the job.&uot;

According to Prescott, the district had 250 candidates apply for 12 positions. He said the pool had many highly qualified candidates.

Prescott said the district looks to hire the best candidates for the job no matter what. He also pointed out that the district recently hired a 14-year resident of Albert Lea to be principal at Southwest Middle School.

&uot;We hire on a what-you-know, not who-you-know basis,&uot; Prescott said. &uot;If we didn’t do that we wouldn’t be doing what’s best for our students.&uot;