Ohio County's school board Monday night offered a Wheeling-area elementary school principal a job as its new superintendent.
The board voted 4-1 to enter contract negotiations with Woodsdale Elementary Principal Kimberly Miller, who was previously the county's student services/curriculum director. She's the daughter-in-law of a former superintendent, Larry Miller. Board member Christine Carder cast the lone "no" vote.
Board member Sarah Koegler said that the contract length and salary are still being worked out. She said that out of 10 applicants, the board had previously unanimously chosen Kimberly Miller and Mark Miller (no relation) as the two finalists. Mark Miller is currently superintendent of Buckeye Local School District in the state of Ohio.
"I just couldn't support that decision," Carder wrote in an email about her vote. "Not sure I would've voted for either one."
In an abrupt move at a Dec. 29 meeting, board Vice President Gary Kestner made a motion to not renew current Superintendent Dianna Vargo's contract, and board President Shane Mallett and fellow board member Tim Birch supported his motion. The other two board members, Sarah Koegler and Carder, voted against Kestner's motion.
Vargo has served the Northern Panhandle county for 32 years, the last four as superintendent, and she previously was assistant and deputy superintendent and a principal and teacher at Wheeling Park High. Last school year, the first year that West Virginia gave the Smarter Balanced test statewide, Ohio County had the state's highest English language arts proficiency rate, with about six out of every 10 kids meeting "proficiency." It was No. 2 in math, with a 38 percent proficiency rate.
Initially, the three board members who voted against renewing Vargo's contract didn't specify why. But at a later board meeting, Mallett criticized the county's test scores, saying the county's students need to be prepared to compete internationally. He pointed out Wheeling Park High School, where only 28 percent of students were proficient in math. Fifty-seven percent were proficient in English.
"The duty of the central office administration, which makes approximately half a million dollars a year collectively, is to give our principals and teachers the tools that they need to successfully prepare our children for the future," he said. "It is clear that this is not being done as these scores are unacceptable."
Birch, who said he wants the county to be academically competitive nationally, said he was impressed by Kimberly Miller's 24-point plan for how to move the school system forward.
"Quite frankly, I liked her attitude," he said. "She had plans for what needed to be done."
Birch noted she worked under four different superintendents during her time in the school system's central office.
Koegler said she wasn't surprised the county only got 10 applicants for the position, given what she's called an irresponsibly fast-paced hiring process that lacked vision. She said she still doesn't agree with the how Vargo's contract was handled, but she believes Kimberly Miller deserved to be a finalist and wants to help her be successful.
"It was not like this giant, thorough search with this really clear set of criteria," Koegler said. "... So I kind of feel lucky with who we ended up with."
Reach Ryan Quinn at
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