Troy, Springboro school superintendents candidates for Cincinnati-area job

Two Dayton area school district superintendents are among five candidates for the superintendent job at the Forest Hills School District on the east side of Cincinnati.

Information posted on the Forest Hills website listed Springboro Superintendent Larry Hook and Troy Superintendent Chris Piper among the five that the school district decided to interview. Other candidates are Edgewood City Schools Superintendent Russ Fussnecker, La Salle High School Principal Aaron Marshall, and John Eckert, who is a business administrator at Forest Hills.

Last month, Hook was one of the finalists for Ohio’s state superintendent post. Steve Dackin was chosen instead, but then Dackin abruptly resigned at the beginning of June. This week, some state school board members pushed for Hook to be named state superintendent, but the full state board decided to take more time to determine its next steps.

Hook has been Springboro’s superintendent for two years after serving the previous 10 years as Carlisle schools superintendent.

Piper has been with the Troy schools as superintendent since fall 2018, and agreed to a new contract in December that would run through July 2025. He previously spent four years as superintendent of Triad schools northeast of Springfield.

The Forest Hills schools’ board of education was interviewing the five applicants this week. The board next will select candidates who will continue to final-round interviews in a special executive session scheduled June 23.

Forest Hills is a public school district with more than 7,000 students. The district’s two high schools are Anderson and Turpin.

Staff Writer Eileen McClory contributed to this report.

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