SHAWNEE TOWNSHIP — The Shawnee school board will interview three superintendent candidates next Monday, April 29.
Nine public school administrators applied for the position after Superintendent Jude Meyers announced his retirement last October.
The Shawnee school board has since narrowed its search to three candidates: Drew Bauman, principal of Donnell Middle School in Findlay; former Elida superintendent Donald Diglia, who most recently worked as superintendent of Ayersville schools near Defiance; and Tasha Sheipline, the former principal of Apollo Career Center High School
The school board invited roughly 20 staff members, administrators and community leaders to participate in Monday’s interviews.
“We think (they) could provide good questions regarding the school district and the community,” Board President Marlena Schaaf said. “We don’t want to overwhelm the candidates with a huge, open forum where we don’t know where the questions are coming from.”
Shawnee schools hired Meyers as superintendent in August 2021.
Meyers announced his retirement in October, eight months after he pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor count of conflict of interest for allegedly using his role as superintendent of Gallia schools, where he worked prior to Shawnee, to gain employment contracts for his son and reportedly using district property for personal use.
The school board’s goal is to hire a new superintendent before Meyers retires in August, but Schaaf said board members don’t want to “rush” their decision.
“We know what the challenges are for our school district,” Schaaf said, “and we are going to find the right candidate for Shawnee. We want someone to build a community around our schools, be a good communicator and develop trust with our educators, administrators and parents.”
