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Under consideration for YSHS/McKinney Middle School principal, from left, are Jack Hatert, the current interim principal; Ejovwokoghene Odje, assistant principal at Thurgood Marshall STEM High School in Dayton; and Julie Taylor, the curriculum supervisor for Beavercreek City Schools. (Submitted Photos)
YSHS/McKinney School — Principal finalists named
- Published: March 14, 2019
Three finalists for the principal position at Yellow Springs High School and McKinney Middle School have been named.
The finalists, in alphabetical order, are Jack Hatert, the current interim principal; Ejovwokoghene Odje, assistant principal at Thurgood Marshall STEM High School in Dayton; and Julie Taylor, the curriculum supervisor for Beavercreek City Schools.
District Superintendent Mario Basora said the three finalists were chosen by a committee that consisted of parents, staff members, a board member and two administrators.
“We interviewed six candidates and decided as a committee on the top three,” he wrote in an email this week.
Each of the three finalists will have a day of intensive interviews, concluding with a 7 p.m. public presentation and question-and-answer session in the YSHS library. Taylor’s will be Monday, March 11; Odje’s will be Tuesday, March 12; and Hatert’s will be Wednesday, March 13.
Hatert, a former Yellow Springs teacher and assistant to the principal, has been serving as interim principal since Tim Krier went on leave a year ago in connection with allegations of sexual misconduct against a family member enrolled at the high school.
Hatert is a graduate of Wright State University with degrees in middle childhood education (B.S. in 2005, M.Ed. in 2006) and educational leadership (M.Ed. in 2011). He also completed the principal licensure program at Wright State in 2017.
Hired by Yellow Springs Schools upon completion of his master’s work in 2006, he spent his first two years teaching fifth and sixth grade at Mills Lawn before moving up to McKinney Middle School. After teaching middle school math for three years, he spent a year as half-time assistant to the principal and half-time math teacher. He then spent the next three years teaching seventh-grade math and science. In 2015, he became the assistant principal half time and taught PBL Foundations half time. He also coached girls basketball here for six years, coaching at the middle school for a couple years before serving as the varsity assistant and eventually varsity girls coach. He lives in the countryside between Wilberforce and Cedarville with his wife, Renee, and their two children, Carson and Adley.
Taylor has been with Beavercreek Schools as curriculum supervisor since 2016. In the district announcement at the time of her hire, Beavercreek highlighted that Taylor had experience as an assistant principal and curriculum coach with Springfield City Schools, where she worked for over six years. Before joining Springfield Schools, she taught high school math in the Columbus area, as well as in the Vandalia-Butler and Northmont school districts.
She has a bachelor of arts degree in secondary mathematics 7–12 from Wilmington College, and a master’s degree in educational leadership from the University of Dayton,
According to her LinkedIn profile, she also has superintendent certification from Miami University.
Odje, who lives in Xenia, became assistant principal at Thurgood Marshall in Dayton in 2017, after heading the social studies department there for four years, according to his LinkedIn account. Prior to joining Dayton Schools, he worked for over seven years with Greene County Juvenile Court CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) as a counselor and counselor trainer.
He holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science and government, licensure in AYA integrated social studies and a master of education in instructional leadership/instructional technology, all from Central State University. He also completed the secondary school administration/principalship, 5th–12th, licensure program at Wright State in 2016.
The other three candidates not chosen were Jonathan Kuehnle, principal, Shaker Heights High School; Jason Skidmore, assistant principal, Fairborn High School; and Shawna Welch, athletic director, Dayton Public Schools.
In other recent school district news—
First facilities task force meeting set
The task force that will be exploring how the district might move forward in addressing school facility needs is scheduled to have its first meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, March 18, in the Graham Conference Room at Mills Lawn.
The meetings will be open to public observation.
Six members have been confirmed, according to Superintendent Basora, who said earlier this week that he is finalizing four more, including a student.
The six confirmed are Benji Maruyama, Chad Runyon, Lori Kuhn, Kat Walter, John Gudgel and Desiree Nickel.
In addition, the nonvoting support team for the group will consist of Mel Marsh, as facilitator; Basora, for general information; district Treasurer Dawn Bennett, for finance/levy information; TJ Turner, board liaison; and Mike Ruetschle, architect.
Board holds two special meetings
The school board held special meetings Saturday, Feb. 23, and Wednesday, Feb. 27.
Both meeting agendas considered the contract renewal of Treasurer Dawn Bennett, with no action taken, according to board President Steve Conn, who gave no other details about the discussions.
Relatedly, at the Feb. 27 meeting, the board passed a resolution extending the deadline for renewing the treasurer’s contract from March 1 to May 15.
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