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Schools

Falls School District Selects Two Finalists for Superintendent Position

Board seeks to have Holland successor in place Aug. 1.

The Cuyahoga Falls Board of Education has narrowed the field to two candidates for the position of district superintendent. Final interviews will take place June 14 and 15.

Candidate Domenic Paolo, superintendent of Fairport Harbor Exempted Village School District, and Candidate Dr. Todd Nicholas, superintendent of Bucyrus City School District, have been selected from among 20 original applicants to the position. A previous finalist, Cara Riddle, New Albany-Plain Local School District director of human resources, withdrew her application to accept a superintendency elsewhere, said Dr. Paula Snyder, director of human resources for Cuyahoga Falls schools.

Snyder said along with Nicholas, Paolo and Riddle, the previous, first-round candidates interviewed were:

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  • Joseph Iacano, Crestwood Local School District superintendent
  • Tony Loewer, Mayfield City Schools high school principal
  • Phil Martucci, Cuyahoga Falls City School District director of pupil services.
  • Dr. Phil Wagner, Beachwood City School District assistant superintendent of human resources.

The contract for Superintendent Dr. Ed Holland, who accepted the superintendent position for the Cuyahoga Heights City School District, will end July 30. Holland has worked in the Cuyahoga Falls school district for 15 years, first as administrative principal at , then as assistant superintendent before becoming superintendent with the school district.

Snyder said the stakeholder panel interviewing Nicholas and Paolo comprises “myriad factions” of the community: a teacher from each building in the district; support staff that includes a secretary, a bus driver, a custodian, an attendant and a member of an exempt staff; the mayors of Silver Lake and Cuyahoga Falls, administrators and community members.

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The Board’s search for a successor to Holland is being facilitated by Finding Leaders’ Paul Pendleton, an independent educational consultant.

“I think there are several things important to any superintendent who is going to be successful in the school district,” said Board President Therese Dunphy.

Among those qualities are experience in curriculum and instruction, business leadership and a sincere interest in the community. In addition to being the educational leader of a district, a superintendent also serves as the chief executive officer and business manager. The Board is interested in selecting a superintendent with a collaborative mindset who can build trust, work well with Board and union leaders and “wants to be embedded” in the community on a long-term basis, she said.

“Those are the things we’ll be looking for as we continue the process,” Dunphy said.

To maintain administrative continuity, the Board plans to have new superintendent who is “the right fit” in place Aug. 1, she said.

“We’ve been fortunate, in that the candidates Finding Leaders have brought forth are very good,” Dunphy said.

The next Cuyahoga Falls Board of Education meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. on June 13 at the high school library, located at 2300 Fourth St.

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