BOE president talks interim, assistant superintendents

Editor's note: Due to an error, the incorrect content ran with the same headline as this story. The correct content is below. TIFFIN --- At a special meeting last week, Tiffin City School District's Board of Education voted to appoint Gerald Nadeau as the interim superintendent and informed the public that it will later vote on reinstating the job of Robert Boes. The A-T spoke with the board's president Dustin Williams for more information about the interim superintendent's position and the possible reinstatement of Boes's job. Interim superintendent "Mr. Nadeau does not currently hold a superintendent's license," Williams said. "The state of Ohio provides a traditional licensure pathway and an alternative licensure pathway. The alternative pathway allows an individual to work in the position while attaining the license." He also shared that interim superintendents have the same qualifications as a superintendent. "While working to attain his license, Mr. Nadeau is only permitted to hold the title of interim superintendent, but the job responsibilities and scope do not differ," he explained. "As part of the alternative licensure, Mr. Nadeau is also required by law to have a mentor, and he has discussed his choice with the board." The board has not determined the length of Nadeau's contract as the interim superintendent. "Starting on April 26, Mr. Nadeau began working with the rest of the district leadership team to ensure all administrative functions are properly aligned. The board will use that input (along with other information) in determining the structure and duration of a contract for Mr. Nadeau. The board will also establish some evaluation criteria for Mr. Nadeau to ensure he's meeting the expectations of the board and the needs of the district." Alternative superintendent requirements According to the Ohio Board of Education, those who wish to obtain an alternative superintendent license must have (at minimum) a master's degree from an accredited university with a GPA of 3.0, five or more years of experience in teaching, administration, education, or management and must have a current background check on file with the state board. After obtaining an alternative superintendent license, the school district is required to provide the license holder with a mentoring program that assigns a mentor, completes the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium Self-Assessment, develops a personal learning plan and allows for participation in a mentoring program that is "aligned to the personal learning plan and consisting of 70 clock hours." In the first two years, an alternative license holder must complete three semester hour courses in school law and school finance and an additional three semester hours from an accredited university or 45 clock hours of personal development based on the personal learning plan. Additionally, if a license holder does not have "two years of teaching experience under a standard or alternative teaching license, permanent non-tax certificate or two years of experience under a professional pupil services license," the license holder must develop and complete a plan that "outlines observation of classroom instruction across grade levels and subject areas within the school district." Years three and four after obtaining a license require a license holder to participate in a mentoring program, pass the Ohio Assessment for Educators educational leadership exam and complete six semester hours from an accredited university or 90 clock hours of professional development based on the personal learning plan. At the end of the first four years, a license holder can apply to advance to a professional superintendent's license. For that license, a person must complete all the requirements listed above for years 1-4. The superintendent search The superintendent search process costs the district about $10,000. Williams said that the board is not currently taking action to start the search due to "the timing in the academic year and impact to the district and community". "Moving forward with an interim from within the district also allows us to not lose momentum on several initiatives begun by Mr. Richards. The current leadership team has already begun work to take over those initiatives and keep them moving forward." Reinstating assistant superintendent "Once the board learned of Mr. (Ben) Richards' intent to leave the district, we began to explore some 'what if' scenarios in executive session," Williams said. "With the resignation of Mr. Richards, we would be fiscally able to reinstate the Assistant Superintendent role. At this time, Mr. Boes is still under contract through July 31, 2026, but would effectively be laid off starting on August 1, 2024." He explained that if the board votes to reinstate the position of assistant superintendent, it can recall Boes to the position. In this scenario, Boes would resume employment under his current contract through July 31, 2026.