WELLS — After multiple rounds of voting and over three hours of deliberations, the United South Central School Board named its next superintendent at a special board meeting Thursday night.

In a unanimous decision, the board choose Keith Fleming — a middle and high school principal in the Southland School District — over Barry Schmidt, principal at Butterfield-Oden Public Schools.

While the meeting was opened by USC School Board Chairman Dale Stevermer, it was led by South Central Service Cooperative consultant Harold Remme, who has been aiding USC in its search to replace retiring superintendent Jerry Jensen.

The problem, which was noted by school board member Tom Legred, is that both men could do well in the position.

“We wouldn’t be having this conversation if they weren’t both good,” he said.

As a result, positives and negatives were reviewed for each candidate.

Fleming has more administrative experience than Schmidt, according to the School Board. However, the board voiced concern over Fleming’s ability to manage those in a position he hadn’t been in before — the teacher’s position. His years of experience also gave members of the board, such as Steve Navara, confidence that he would know how to delegate responsibility to others. School board member Kathy Krebsbach also listed his experience as a youth counselor as a bonus.

Schmidt’s energy resonated with Mike Schrader. He, along with Jon Feist and Tom Legred, advocated for Schmidt because they felt he had the potential to take USC to the next level by creating a trend of continual improvement. They thought his limited administrative experience, paired with the small size of the Butterfield-Oden school district, had some of the members concerned about his experience in delegating responsibilities to others. Krebsbach also noted a gut feeling that Schmidt just wasn’t the right fit for the district. She felt he had the right answers at times, but she didn’t feel he came across as being genuine.

Fleming was chosen after much debate between school board members who ultimately decided to choose who best reflected a profile of attributes that they felt a viable candidate for the position should have. These attributes included having excellent communication skills, having a good working knowledge of school finance, being a good listener with strong interpersonal skills, and being described by others as honest, ethical and dedicated to students and the education profession, among others.

While board members Legred, Feist and Schrader advocated for Schmidt, once the attribute rating sheet was complete Fleming was not only in the lead with a rating of 122 to 110, but each of the board members also individually rated Fleming higher overall than Schmidt.

After the vote was acknowledged by the School Board, Remme called Fleming to offer him the position.

Fleming accepted and will officially start his position on July 1.