Five to interview for USD 365 superintendent
By The Herald Staff
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GARNETT — Five finalists will be interviewed next week to be Anderson County USD 365’s next school superintendent.
The school board picked the finalists during a special meeting Thursday at Greeley.
Mike Barnes, board president, said he was pleased by the quality of the finalists.
Although there’s a wide variety in the background and experience of the finalists, all have proven records in promoting academic excellence and bettering their communities, Barnes said.
The public is invited to meet each of the finalists at one of five community receptions from 3:30 to 4:20 p.m., Monday through Friday at the Anderson County Junior-Senior High School library, Garnett.
Prior to the public receptions, the finalists will meet with students and staff and tour the district, Barnes said. The candidates will be interviewed by the board in the evening.
Finalists are:
• Donald E. Blome, Burlingame USD 454 superintendent.
Burlingame schools were recently named as one of the 21 most efficient school districts in Kansas by Standard and Poor.
During his seven years as superintendent, Blome oversaw a $450,000 addition and managed the construction of a $3.4 million bond project.
He also served as principal at Yates Center High School and at Centre Junior and Senior High School, Lost Springs and was an agricultural teacher for Wamego, Highland Community College and Osborne.
His reception and interview will be Monday.
• Dr. David L. Brax, Buhler USD 313 superintendent. Brax, Buhler’s superintendent since 1998, was principal for Anderson County Junior Senior High School 1991-93.
He has also been superintendent at Ellinwood and Pretty Prairie, assistant principal at Winfield High School and social studies teacher at Arkansas City High School.
He has snagged 21 federal and state grants ranging from $10,000 to $850,000. Brax is president of the Kansas Association of School Administrators.
His reception and interview will be Tuesday.
• Jerry C. Burch, Nickerson-South Hutchinson USD 309 superintendent.
Burch has been Nickerson’s superintendent since 2003. He also has been superintendent and elementary principal at Syracuse; an elementary principal at Sweetwater, Okla., and a teacher and coach at Clinton, Okla.
He helped improve the district’s technology network, including the One-to-One Laptop Initiative at Nickerson High School and Reno Valley Middle School.
He has also been an economic development official and an engineer for an Oklahoma City oil-field company and grew up on an Oklahoma farm and ranch. His reception and interview will be Wednesday.
• William F. Orth II, Altoona-Midway USD 387, Buffalo, superintendent. He has been superintendent at Altoona-Midway since 2005.
Previously, he was superintendent at Baileyville and a middle school principal at Kingman.
He established Student Improvement Teams in both districts. He is a speaker on school budgeting at superintendent meetings. He was a band and music teacher at Kingman, Pratt Community College, Kinsley and Lorraine.
His reception and interview will be Thursday.
• Dr. Diane Swender Watkins, associate superintendent of curriculum and instruction of Chanute schools.
She has been associate superintendent or director of curriculum and instruction at Chanute since 1997. For the 2006-07 year, Chanute High School achieved building-wide Standard of Excellence in reading, writing and math — one of 38 public high schools in the state.
She also led efforts that picked up about $6 million in grants.
She has also been a biological science teacher and tech prep coordinator at Neosho County Community College, Chanute.
Her reception and interview will be Friday.
Anderson County superintendent Gordon Myers will retire in June.
The finalists were selected from 17 applicants, Barnes said.
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