Local group hired for Cuyahoga Falls schools superintendent search
CUYAHOGA FALLS — The same organization that handled the search for the school district’s interim superintendent has been selected to find the permanent leader.
The board of education has hired Summit Educational Service Center (ESC) to conduct the search for the district’s new superintendent.
Summit ESC was selected by the school board after members heard presentations from representatives of the ESC, as well as Ohio School Boards Association and Ray and Associates.
Board members said they favored the ESC because of its past work with the district, which included the searches for both treasurer and interim superintendent.
“The community engagement piece is huge for our district and having already built a relationship with [the ESC] and having good experiences with a certain treasurer and other people in this room, I think that we already have a level of trust built and the community will be receptive to that as well,” said board member Alecia Coco.
Board member Carrie Schaefer concurred, and noted the ESC is a local organization that knows “what’s important to us.”
The district will pay $4,250 for the search that will be handled by the School Leadership Connection Service, a division of Summit ESC.
The deadline to apply for the superintendent’s position is Feb. 14.
Russell Chaboudy, a 1974 graduate of Cuyahoga Falls High School, is serving as the district’s interim superintendent. He was appointed to that position by the board in December. Before Chaboudy was hired as the interim leader, Ellen McClure, the district’s director of human resources, served as superintendent pro tempore for a month following the departure of superintendent Dr. Todd Nichols.
The board on Nov. 17 approved Nichols’ resignation for purpose of retirement. Nichols had served as the district’s superintendent since 2011.
Board backs legal effort fighting voucher program
The board on Jan. 19 backed a resolution opposing the state’s EdChoice Voucher Program and supporting a legal effort that challenges the constitutionality of the program. The board agreed to pay dues to the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding, which is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit challenging the EdChoice program.
On Jan. 4, 100 school districts – including Barberton, Twinsburg and Woodridge – filed a lawsuit in Franklin County challenging the constitutionality of the EdChoice program.
If they succeed, it could mean the end of the EdChoice scholarships programs that currently cover at least part of the private school tuition for more than 50,000 Ohio children.
Supporters of the lawsuit filed in Franklin County say Ohio must “secure” a single “system of common schools” and giving $2 billion to private institutions over the last decade goes against that goal.
Opponents of the suit say public school funding has risen significantly since the EdChoice programs were created and scrapping these scholarships would devastate thousands of families.
USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau Reporter Anna Staver and Akron Beacon Journal education reporter Jennifer Pignolet contributed to this article.
Reporter Phil Keren can be reached at 330-541-9421, [email protected], or on Twitter at @keren_phil.
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