072511 (Print Version) More administrative changes coming for Wooster City Schools
By Sharon Haught
July 15, 2011
408
Summary: Changes to the Wooster City School Districts administrative staff continue as the district back fills building administration positions.
The Wooster City School District is getting down to the business of filling building administration positions left vacant by the promotion of building administrators to positions in the Central Office and the resignation of a number of other key building level administrators.
The shuffling of administrative staff was set in motion by the June 28 resignation of Assistant Superintendent Richard Goodright who left the district to take up his new duties as Superintendent of the Massillon City School District.
When Edgewood Middle School Principal Richard Leone was promoted to the Central Office to assume a portion of Goodrights duties, Edgewoods Associate Principal Rodney Hopton was tapped to assume the Principal position at Edgewood, leaving an Associate Principal position vacant.
Just prior to Goodrights announcement, Wooster High School Associate Principal Scott Burnett announced his intention to leave the district to accept the position of Assistant Principal at Northwest High School, which the district was in the process of filling when a second high school associate principal, Vicki Turner, submitted her resignation in order to accept the position of Assistant Principal at Strongsville High School.
As the hunt for Burnetts replacement got underway, Boys Village Principal Brad Warner announced his intention to leave the district to accept the position of Principal at Massillon Washington High School.
With a strong candidate pool of over 100 internal and external candidates already assembled, the district was able to move quickly to fill three of the open positions during a July 13 Board of Education meeting.
Assuming Burnetts responsibilities at Wooster High School as Associate Principal is Tyler Keener.
Keener, who Tefs describes as a quality young man, taught social studies for seven years at Central Christian High School and most recently served as a middle school and high school assistant principal in the Chippewa School District.
While the district tapped an external candidate for the high school position, its selection for the principal spot at Boys Village will be very familiar with his surroundings.
Joe (Kacsandi) actually came from the Boys Village system, said Tefs noting that the new Boys Village Principal previously served as an intervention specialist at Boys Village before being named Dean of Students at Cornerstone.
According to Tefs when budget cuts resulted in the elimination of the dean of students position Kacsandi moved back into a teaching assignment as an intervention specialist at Wooster High School but always had a desire to return to Boys Village.
He has a terrific understanding the vision and mission of Boys Village, the staff, the curriculum and also the Village Network, which feeds the student body there, said Tefs adding from a training perspective the learning curve will pretty much be a straight line.
The district also looked to an internal candidate to fill the Associate Principal position at Edgewood Middle School – Wooster High School teacher Ned Lauver.
Lauver joined the high school staff in 2007 as a social studies teacher and Speech and Debate Team head coach. Prior to that he held similar positions at Carrollton High School.
With three key building level administrative positions filled, two still remain open.
With an applicant pool already in place, interviews with candidates interested in the high school associate principal slot previously held by Turner are underway.
The district also faces the search for a new Athletic Director to replace Keri Hamsher, who recently resigned to assume responsibilities as Assistant Principal at Rittman High School.
According to Tefs the district planned to begin interviewing candidates for Hamshers position during the week of July 18.
According to Tefs, Turners and Hamshers positions and all teaching positions are expected to be filled during the boards regular July meeting.
