May 19, 2005

By Robert Mihalek

Yellow Springs school board members said in recent interviews that they support a proposal to appoint Principal John Gudgel the district’s next superintendent, replacing the current head of the school system, Tony Armocida, when he is likely to retire in 2007.

School board members said that Gudgel, who is the principal of Yellow Springs High and McKinney Middle Schools, has not been offered the position, though they said that the post is Gudgel’s — if he wants it. Naming Gudgel the next superintendent now would give him ample time to train for the job, several board members said.

“I’m strongly in support of the idea of John Gudgel being the next superintendent,” board member Bill Firestone said. Mary Campbell-Zopf called Gudgel an “excellent candidate.”

“I think John has shown over the years that he has a gift of working with kids,” Rich Bullock, the president of the Board of Education, said.

“Whatever he puts his heart and mind into, he puts in 100 percent,” said board member Angela Wright.

On Monday, Gudgel said that he has not decided whether to apply for the superintendent’s position. He said he would spend the summer contemplating the opportunity, weighing the prospect of running the Yellow Springs school district with other career options. “But I haven’t come to a definite answer,” he said.

“I hope to make a rational decision in fairness to everybody,” said Gudgel, who has worked at YSHS for 25 years, the last 10 of which he has served as principal.

Describing himself as being at the crossroads of his career, Gudgel said that the “grind” of being a principal “has been kind of getting to me.” The rigors of his current job, along with Armocida’s eventual retirement and job offers from other school districts, Gudgel said, are factors that sparked his interest in the superintendent’s position.

But he also said becoming superintendent would include “dramatic changes” in his work environment, including an increase in responsibility and decrease in the time he has to work with kids. The superintendent’s roles in managing the district’s multimillion dollar budget and asking the community to support levies and provide other financial support are “awesome” tasks, he said.

Several board members said that the idea of Gudgel becoming superintendent has been discussed informally in the past. The prospect, however, became serious this spring when Gudgel let it be known that he was interested in the position.

Armocida’s contract with the district expires at the end of July 2007, although he said that he has not officially decided to retire at that time. “The actual date of my retirement is still to be determined,” he said.

Bullock said in an interview Saturday that once he learned of Gudgel’s interest, he spoke with each board member, outside of board meetings, “about whether they thought it was a good idea or not” to offer him the superintendent’s job. These conversations took place several weeks ago, board members said. Bullock described the discussions as “testing the waters.” Firestone called Bullock’s approach a straw poll.

Earlier this month, Bullock presented the school board with a proposal establishing what he called “a clear line of succession” for the superintendent’s position. The proposal, which is spelled out in two pages of memos dated May 2, includes a suggested timeline and hiring process for Gudgel and his replacement at YSHS.

Under the proposal, the board would invite Gudgel to apply for the superintendent’s job, and then go through a formal interview process. Gudgel would be asked to present the board with, among other things, statements articulating his philosophy of education, his vision for the district and his goals as superintendent, the proposal states.

Assuming the board offers Gudgel the promotion, he would initially receive the additional title of assistant superintendent, while retaining his current title of principal.

Armocida would train Gudgel until Armocida retires in July 2007, the proposal states. Bullock proposed that the board approve raises for Armocida of 4 percent for the 2005–06 and 2006–07 school years. “In return, Tony commits to staying in the position through July 30, 2007, with no further pay increases beyond step increases, guaranteeing that John will receive 2 full years on mentoring and assistance,” Bullock wrote.

The board would also agree to reimburse Gudgel up to $7,000 for tuition and materials needed to complete his studies to earn his superintendent license, Bullock suggested in his proposal. Gudgel said he would have to take several classes to receive the license.

While Gudgel is being groomed for his new post, the school board would launch a search for his successor at YSHS and McKinney, the proposal states.

Bullock initially did not make his proposal available to the public, saying that the memos were “internal memorandum” about personnel affairs. But he later provided the News with copies of the memos after the paper, arguing that the documents are public records, requested the memos.

The school board has not discussed Bullock’s proposal as a group, nor has it yet asked Gudgel to apply for the superintendent’s job, board members said. “But we want to talk seriously with him,” Campbell-Zopf said of Gudgel.

Board members described Bullock’s proposal as a starting point for hiring a new superintendent. “It’s just a proposal, and I assume like most proposals it will be substantially altered,” Bullock said.

He said that the board needs to develop and implement a plan so that by mid-2007 Gudgel will be “ready to take the reins” of the district.

Several board members said that even if Gudgel were named the next head of the district, the board should lead some kind of public process in which the community reviews the superintendent’s job. Campbell-Zopf said that a public discussion should be held about “what it means to be the superintendent in Yellow Springs.”

“It’s an important job,” Campbell-Zopf said of the superintendent’s position, “and [there’s] a big public discussion that needs to take place.”

Board member Richard Lapedes said that “it’s very important that the entire community,” including, he noted, parents, teachers, students and school staff, “have a voice” in this process. He said the community should define the skills and behavior the superintendent must have as well as what the community expects out of the position.

He said that the school board might hire a consultant to help the board “construct the best process.”

Bullock said board members think that “it’s a very good thing to have the community help John understand what kind of superintendent we want him to be.”

Board members did not want to discuss Bullock’s proposal to give Armocida a 4 percent raise each year for the next two years. Bullock did say that the raises would compensate Armocida for mentoring Gudgel.

Armocida said that it would be a “pretty big commitment” to mentor Gudgel while maintaining his regular duties from January to July 2007, which he described as the “meat of the year” for him. He said that while he was not very involved in Bullock’s proposal, he did discuss with Bullock “what I thought would be fair compensation.”