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Taylor Topinka answers questions from the school board during her final interview last Thursday night.
“You’ve already put in a lot of time,” South Central Service Cooperative (SCSC) search consultant Harod Remme told the United South Central School Board about their quest to find a new superintendent for the district. “You interviewed four candidates to get to two. Now you’ve interviewed two candidates to get to one.”
The board voted unanimously to offer the position to Taylor Topinka, pending successful contract negotiations.
After the board’s decision, Remme contacted Topinka, who confirmed he wanted the superintendent’s job.
“The next step would be to begin negotiations, which is usually done by the board chairman, and have the contract read for approval at the next regularly scheduled board meeting,” Reme explained. “You might as well call a special board meeting to approve the contract.”
The next USC board meeting will normally be held on February 21.
In addition to Topinka, who is currently a 7-12 principal and social studies teacher at Granada-Huntley-East Chain Middle School, the other finalist was Robert Root, who is a member of the USC staff where he teaches 11- th and 12th grade english class.
“We had four good candidates to start and we got two back
the strongestsaid board chairman Mike Schrader. “Both would be passionate in their endeavours.’
Similar thoughts were shared by other board members.
“Both finalists have a lot to offer our area.” commented board member Diana Brooks. “We were fortunate to have four strong candidates.”
Ruth’s last interview took place on Wednesday, January 18, and Topinka’s was the following day. The two candidates also met with an administrative team from the school.
During their final interviews, candidates were questioned on a wide variety of topics. Many of the questions asked how they would personally handle certain situations such as conflict resolution, employee evaluations, and how they would relate to the various communities that make up the USC School District.
They were also asked to share their knowledge and experience with school finance and strategic planning.
After Topinka’s interview Thursday, the board reviewed the results of the administrative team’s interviews before using a point system to rate each candidate.
Remme tabulated the results and then turned to the board, “The total number of points suggests that there is a clear choice for the position.”
And that choice was Topinka.
“His thoughts on strategic planning really impressed me,” said board member Brittany Voigt.
During his interview, Topinka told board members that the Wells community is a place he and his wife, Stephanie, would like to be a part of.
“We want to put down roots and if I am elected we will look forward to our son going to school at USC,” Topinka said.
Topinka was also asked about his professional and personal goals.
“I’ll start with the least important first, my professional goals,” Topinka replied. “My professional goal is to achieve the position of superintendent of USC and I would like to complete my Ph.D. For my personal goals, I will say that family should come first. I am very thankful for my wife and my son. I must be a good husband, a good father, a good brother and a good son. My church life is also very important to me.”
Still, it wasn’t an easy decision for the board.
“It weighs on me,” commented Schrader. “It’s been on my mind and I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about it. I’m sure they’ll both make it.”
Assuming contract negotiations are successful, Topinka’s first day on the job will be July 1. He will replace Keith Fleming, who retired on June 30.
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