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The Springfield News-Sun provides unmatched coverage of local schools and will continue to report on the search for Springfield’s next superintendent.
The Springfield City School District Board of Education has narrowed its search for the district’s next superintendent to three finalists.
The finalists to replace David Estrop when he retires at the end of the school year were chosen from among 16 applicants found through K12 Business Consulting. Eight were interviewed by the board this week.
Each of the finalists will visit the district one day next week for a second round of interviews, according to Treasurer Dale Miller.
They will spend the afternoon of their interview day meeting with cabinet members, school administrators, staff and the public before giving a final formal presentation to the board.
The community will have an opportunity to meet and ask questions of the candidates during individual meet and greet sessions Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Each session will be from 3:30-5:30 p.m. in the Board of Education room at the Clark Center, 1500 W. Jefferson St.
Monday the district will host Guy Parmigian, currently the superintendent of Benton-Carroll-Salem Local School District in Oak Harbor, about 25 miles east of Toledo.
The district is significantly smaller than SCSD, with three schools and about 1,700 students.
Parmigian previously worked as Director of Curriculum and Career Tech at Greenville City Schools in Darke County and as a teacher for the Clark County Educational Service Center in 2002 and 2003, coordinating the Clark County Academy alternative high school program.
Tuesday’s interviews will be with Carl Metzger, Assistant Superintendent of South-Western City Schools in Grove City, a suburb of Columbus.
It is the state’s sixth-largest school district with 21,000 students, 57 percent of whom are economically disadvantaged, according to Metzger’s resume.
He previously served as superintendent of the small, rural Marion Local School District in Mercer County, and worked as a principal in various Ohio districts for 10 years.
Wednesday’s finalist is Robert Hill, Superintendent of Firelands Local School District.
The rural district is about 30 minutes west of Cleveland in Lorain County and has three schools and about 1,800 students.
Hill previously served as principal at suburban Olmsted Falls City Schools and as assistant principal of South-Western City Schools.
Board President Ed Leventhal said K12 did an excellent job of finding candidates for the district.
“I think we have a good process in place,” he said. “The board was pleased with the quality of the eight candidates and we are very pleased with the final three.”
After the candidate visits next week, the board will pick a time to convene to discuss the finalists, consider feedback from staff, administrators and the public and try to come to a consensus on a first choice, Leventhal said.
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