Jamestown school board offers Adam Gehlhar interim superintendent job

Jamestown schools moved toward a full-year leadership handoff Thursday when the Jamestown Public School Board voted 8-1 to offer Adam Gehlhar the interim superintendent job. The proposed deal would run 260 days, from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027, at a salary of $184,000 if Gehlhar accepts.

The lone no vote came from Jacob Meier, a split that showed broad support for a steady hand but also signaled that not every board member was ready to move in lockstep. The 8-1 margin suggested the board wanted continuity heading into the next school year, yet the dissent pointed to different views about timing, compensation or the direction of the district as it prepares for a major transition at the top.

That transition became unavoidable as Rob Lech prepared to leave Jamestown Public Schools for West Fargo Public Schools, where he will start July 1 as secondary assistant superintendent. Lech has led the Jamestown district since July 1, 2013, a stretch that included a 2017 North Dakota Superintendent of the Year honor and a run as one of three finalists for Fargo Public Schools superintendent in February 2025.

Gehlhar is already part of the district’s leadership structure. Jamestown Public Schools lists him as continuous improvement director and JVCTC director, and board records show he had been in the district orbit well before this vote. An unofficial March 31, 2026, special board meeting listed Gehlhar as a guest, another sign that he was already close to the work of district operations before the superintendent opening became public.

The pay package also showed the scale of responsibility the board was assigning. Gehlhar’s proposed $184,000 salary would be well above the $131,500 contract he held for the 2024-2025 school year, and just below Lech’s $193,250 salary from that same period. That gap suggests the board viewed the interim superintendent as more than a placeholder, instead treating the post as a yearlong job that would carry budget decisions, staffing choices, curriculum planning and the daily demands of a district serving Jamestown families.

What parents, staff and students will watch next is whether Gehlhar accepts and how quickly the district settles into the new leadership structure before fall classes begin. The decision now gives Jamestown a clearer path through the summer, but the real test will come in the first months of the 2026-27 school year, when the board and its interim superintendent have to show they can keep the district steady while the search for long-term direction continues.