Cooley, Swartz back in the hunt for superintendent's job

NORWALK — It's not over yet for the two local candidates vying for the Norwalk City School's superintendent's job. On Friday, board president Ralph Ritzenthaler said the job was down to the final two candidates — Dr. Michael Zalar, superintendent, North Olmsted City School District, and Jude Meyers, superintendent, Gallia County Local Schools. On Monday, however, it was announced Norwalk High School Principal Brad Cooley and Norwalk Middle School Principal Gary Swartz also will get interviews on Monday. "They wrestled with that decision and decided to invite Gary Swartz and Brad Cooley for interviews," said Steve Horton, senior board management services consultant of the Ohio School Boards Association. "We have seen things like this before. It really comes down to making the right decision. It's a tough decision. I think the thought is to let the interviews go instead of leaving somebody out. This gives themselves the opportunity to make the right decision." On Friday, Ritzenthaler said he was happy with the final two the board had originally decided to interview. Zalar is retiring from North Olmsted. He has been in North Olmsted since 2013, and before that he was superintendent with the Oregon City School District from 2010 to 2013. One of his major accomplishments was leading North Olmsted through a building process, including a new high school, middle school, performing arts center and stadium complex. He led the $90 million project from start to finish and it was completed on time and under budget. Meyers has been superintendent at Gallia since 2014. Before that he was at Old Fort from 2010 to 2014 and was a professor at Terra State Community College from 2009 to 2011. He also was a principal at Fostoria High School from 2005 to 2009. He is a Sandusky St. Mary's High School graduate and is in the school's hall of fame. He has experience teaching grades 5-12, was an elementary and high school principal and athletic director. For 10 summers he worked at Cedar Point. "Their superintendent experience and what they have been through," Norwalk school board president Ralph Ritzenthaler said. "That was important to us. "I'm happy with them. I am excited to get the final round of interviews then our board can make the final decision." How about Cooley and Swartz? "They did really well," Ritzenthaler said Friday. "I was impressed with how they interviewed. They are both highly respected in the community and they both do a great job in the buildings they are at. They are both great, great administrators." And now, the two will get another interview in front of the board. "As I commented last week, the two interviewed really well," Ritzenthaler said Monday. "They are both great people and fantastic administrators. This board wants this search to be broad and deep. This is an extremely important move for this district and we must get it correct. "I feel it is the right thing to do. I'm happy they both accepted the invitation to come back for the finals. We wanted them to run through the stakeholder meeting on June 21 and take the OSBA Achiever Test. We also wanted to hear from the stakeholders and get their views. That June 21 meeting at 6 p.m. will be open to the public, so everyone is encourage to attend. All four candidates will be there to answer questions and present a 15-minute presentation of their plan for the district's future. "Steve Horton of OSBA will facilitate the stakeholder meeting. Steve asks that people in the community and staff group submit questions to him prior to the event and then he will present them to the candidates at shorton@ohioschoolboards.org. Mr. Horton will also have index cards available for people to submit questions that night. "Dr. Michael Zalar and Jude Meyers will be interviewed after their meeting with the stakeholders. Brad Cooley and Gary Swartz will be interviewed on Wednesday June 23 or Thursday June 24. We should have that worked out soon. There is a regular board meeting scheduled for June 22 at 7:30 p.m."