Belpre narrows candidates to 3

BELPRE - The Belpre City Schools District Board of Education announced the final three candidates for the district superintendent's position during the board meeting Monday.

"It was a very difficult decision after we interviewed the five candidates," said board president Bobbi Simmons. "They all are strong and excellent candidates."

The three candidates are Thomas D. Gay, president and CEO of The Quality Schools Group near Detroit, Mich., with a doctorate in education and 20 years of experience; William S. McKinney, director of Highlands Community Learning Center in Columbus, with a doctorate in education and 17 years of experience, and Dwight "Tony" A. Dunn, superintendent of Georgetown Exempted Village in Georgetown, Ohio, with 24 years of experience.

The other candidates interviewed were Andrew Brooks, director of special education at Warren Local Schools, with 27 years of educational experience, and Tony H. Meinerding, former superintendent with Holgate Local Schools in Holgate, Ohio, with 21 years of experience.

The sixth candidate, Lisa A. Carmichael, superintendent of Massillon City Schools in Massillon, Ohio, withdrew her name before the school board interviewed her.

The board was recommended the six individuals by the Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA) out of 18 applicants the statewide organization had gone through for the local school board.

Article Photos

Photos by Jolene Craig
Belpre Board of Education president Bobbi Simmons announces the final three candidates for the superintendent’s position during the board meeting Monday night as Superintendent Harry Fleming looks on.

Allen Currey, science consultant with Belpre City Schools, talks about the success of the adult technical education program that includes 18 students taking a night class in the high school science lab for training to work in area chemical plants.

While the OSBA did the preliminary work in the superintendent search and made recommendations as to who is best suited for the position, the Belpre school board will make the ultimate decision.

The second round of interviews will take place this week and the third round, which have not been announced, will include members of the community.

The school board plans to announce the new superintendent during the March 21 board meeting.

In other business:

Allen Currey, science consultant with Belpre City Schools, gave a history of how the program came about with the new science labs in the high school.

"The old lab was pretty well worn, in fact, it died some time ago," he said.

"When the economy crashed, we pondered if there was a new way to use the lab. The kids used it during the day, but what about the evening?"

The program was designed to build on the needs of the Mid-Ohio Valley and is specific to the industrial labs of the area.

"My emphasis was and is about training people on a skill," Currey said.

The Belpre schools partnered with the Washington County Career Center for the lab and technical courses. There are 18 adults taking the class - a mix of plant workers updating their skills for possible promotion and unemployed people awaiting certification.

Jim Siegfried, industrial training coordinator for the career center, said the career center is happy to be working with Belpre schools on this program.

"We view our role in the educational field as being trainers, not educators," Siegfried said. "We teach people how to do their work."

"DuPont has designated Mr. Currey's class as the class to take to get a job in their lab," Siegfried said.

The chemical operator and lab tech classes have been combined to provide the knowledge and skills the area plants need.

"We are true partners in education; we are not in this alone; the companies are working with us," Siegfried said.

Currey and the WCCC are hoping to run this program for several years to continue to meet the needs of industry and people in the area.