By John BrasierRecord Staff WriterThe search for a new Wright City R-II superintendent is underway.School board President Alice Klem said the Missouri School Board Association, hired to help the district with its search, received resumes from several applicants in the week following Chris Gaines’ announcement that he was resigning effective June 30.The board discussed the superintendent search during a 30-minute closed session at its Feb. 19 meeting. Board members Corri Ruge and Heidi Neill did not attend the meeting.“(MSBA) is going to go through the resumes and look at the credentials to select the best candidates for us then we’ll go through the process of weeding them down, probably from 10 or 15 to five or so,” said Klem. “We’ll have community involvement in the process before we select someone.”Klem said the successful candidate, expected to start July 1, would be offered a salary between $131,000 and $150,000. Wright City will accept applications received or postmarked by March 13. The board has set April 2 as the anticipated hire date.As a consultation fee, Klem said the district will pay MSBA 7 percent of the new superintendent’s first-year salary, or between $9,170 and $10,500.Gaines, Wright City superintendent since 2008, was named superintendent of the Mehlville School District in St. Louis County, on Feb. 5.Gaines was scheduled to receive $153,344 from R-II for 2015-16. He signed a three-year contract for $185,000 per year at Mehlville. He will earn an additional $1,000 for each month he lives in the Mehlville district, according to published reports.Klem, whose term on the school board ends in April, said Gaines’ success at Wright City should help attract quality candidates to be his successor.Wright City ranked 499th out of 522 Missouri school districts surveyed based on student test scores before Gaines’ arrival. The district, recognized in 2013 as the most improved in Missouri, now ranks among the top third in the state.Gaines’ focus on strategic planning and his pursuit of feedback from community focus groups were cited as strengths by Mehlville officials.“A lot of superintendents know him and respect him,” said Klem. “So they’re ready to walk right in here and take over a lot of the programs that he’s already set up that have been very successful.”R-II board starts search for Gaines' replacement