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School board President Denise Moore said the school board’s vote was unanimous.
“Dr. Cosby’s vast experience and success as a superintendent, principal and teacher made her the perfect fit for our district,” Moore said Wednesday night.
Cosby also has experience within the Trotwood school district; she served as a high school unit principal in Trotwood from 2004-07.
In her application letter to the school board earlier this month, Cosby said the Trotwood job would be an “opportunity to come back home.” Cosby said in her application that her “experience and passion is rooted in working with urban populations.”
The Mount Healthy district that Cosby has led the past five years has many parallels to Trotwood. In both districts, 100 percent of students are listed as “economically disadvantaged” by the Ohio Department of Education. Mount Healthy has just over 3,000 total students, while Trotwood has about 2,500.
Both districts received overall grades of “D” on the most recent state report card, with Mount Healthy slightly higher in test scores and year-over-year progress, while Trotwood was higher in graduation rate.
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Marlon Howard has served as acting superintendent of Trotwood schools this year, after previous superintendent Tyrone Olverson resigned two weeks before the start of the school year. Howard informed the board that he would not seek the position on a long-term basis, and will return to his role as operations director.
Fourteen educators applied for the Trotwood superintendent job, and the other two finalists for the position were Marvin Jones, former superintendent of Euclid schools near Cleveland, and Craig Hockenberry, superintendent of Three Rivers schools just west of Cincinnati.
In her letter to the board, Cosby emphasized her collaboration, communication and problem-solving skills. She said she was impressed by the efforts of staff and students two years ago that kept the district from falling into state takeover. She said she would be “an advocate for the students and a proud spokesperson for the community.”
Moore spoke highly of Cosby’s qualifications.
“We believe she has the energy, experience and personality to work collaboratively with the board, the staff, and community to help us develop and stay focused on the district’s vision and mission in order to lead us in a positive direction for the future,” Moore said. “We are very excited to have her as our superintendent.”
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