Kettering superintendent candidates include local administrators

The five-member board met Monday night in executive session. The application deadline was April 20 for possible successors to Superintendent Scott Inskeep, who plans to retire Aug. 1.

Candidates include: Bobbie Fiori, Beavercreek assistant superintendent; Robert Hill, Springfield superintendent; Gabe Lofton, Xenia superintendent; Aaron Moran, Versailles superintendent; Melinda McCarty-Stewart, Wilmington superintendent; and Chad Wyen, Mad River superintendent, according to the district.

“From a high-level perspective, we’re very pleased with the candidate pool,” Kettering board of education President Toby Henderson said. “From the board’s perspective, it’s a strong group of candidates. We’re excited about the opportunity to talk with them.

“From my perspective, there’s a nice mix in terms of folks with significant experience and background” with high-level administrative experience,” he added. “It’s a good mix, I think, in terms of diversity as far as size of the districts these people have experience in.”

Versailles in Darke County has three schools with a high school enrollment of fewer than 500, records show. Springfield’s district has about 7,700 students, similar to Beavercreek and Kettering, records show.

In all, 12 applications were received, Kettering Treasurer Cary Furniss said. All of them came from candidates currently working in Ohio, Henderson said.

The board’s selections Monday night are expected to part of first-round interviews May 4-5 with finalists returning the following week, the district has said.

The narrowing of candidates follows a series of 19 community forums by K-12 Business Consulting Inc., which the board hired to help with the search.

K-12 then issued a 10-page based on input from those sessions attended by 199 and results of a survey that had 175 respondents, officials said.

The targeted timeline for the board to vote on hiring is mid-May.

The base salary range is expected to be between $175,000 and $199,000 annually, but is negotiable based on experience and qualifications, records show.