“I fully expect you’ll have a superintendent before the school year is finished,” said Ryan.
“We’re 100 percent committed to finding someone for you. If the board isn’t happy with the applicants, you could hire an interim superintendent and do the search again.”
The application process finishes Feb. 25, and Ryan said although she has heard from several who are interested, most won’t apply until the last minute. She said typically 20 percent of the state’s 700 districts search for a new superintendent every year. She said she expects 20 or more candidates to officially apply for the Vandalia job.
As many as 10 will be presented to the school board for selection, which might include candidates already in the system.
“We have some excellent candidates on staff,” said school board president Bud Zupp. “Superintendent experience is important, but not critical at this point.”
Ryan, who also met with three other groups this week – including teachers, administrators and business leaders in the community – said being a superintendent is tough, especially in a district like Vandalia which has a 6.99 mills levy on the May 7 ballot.
She said since many schools have levies on the ballot, that shouldn’t hurt Vandalia’s search.
Since Ohio mandates each school district have a superintendent, and only one superintendent, there will be no overlap. On the day Donnelly leaves office, the new person will take over.
This week’s meetings were designed to hear from the community about what it wants in a superintendent.
Donnelly’s tenure was long and her district has had Excellent ratings on its state report cards since 2005. Donnelly also saw the district through building new high and middle schools. Donnelly said while there are several factors leading to her retirement after 36 years in education, one of the major ones was a change in procedures that made it more beneficial to retire now.
Feedback for Ryan featured a strong emphasis on communication and open door policies.
Zupp gave high marks to Donnelly.
“It’s a scary time to be looking for a superintendent,” Zupp said. “Why get rid of a superintendent who’s doing really well?”
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