BAITS
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The Fairbanks Board of Education has selected its interim superintendent.
At a board meeting Tuesday night, the board approved the hiring of David Baits, Ph.D., as the new interim superintendent to fill in the superintendent spot left empty by Bob Humble. Baits is a former superintendent of Cedar Cliff Local Schools and Clinton-Massie Schools.
“He has a lot of experience,” board treasurer Aaron Johnson said. “(The board) really liked his excitement and energy that we feel he’ll bring to the district this year.”
Johnson said the board held two special meetings this week, with the interviews occurring Monday and a decision being made Tuesday night.
As interim superintendent, Baits will assume the same responsibilities of a permanent superintendent. He will be the official interim superintendent after tomorrow and will give superintendent reports starting at this month’s meeting.
K-12 Business Consulting, Inc. assisted with the interim superintendent search.
The process of hiring a superintendent will be different compared to the search for an interim superintendent.
K-12 Business Consulting, Inc. will hold focus groups to talk about what the community wants to see in a superintendent candidate and what problems are facing the Fairbanks School District.
The organization plans to search for candidates starting in September, with first round interviews being held later in January. The plan is to hire a new superintendent by February for them to start Aug. 1, 2019.
Baits was the superintendent of Cedar Cliff Local Schools for 20 years.
Afterward, he became the superintendent of the Clinton-Massie School District in 2014. He left in 2016 after the district’s board of education approved a separation agreement, according to an article by the Wilmington News Journal.
Other candidates in the search included Larry Zimmerman, former superintendent at Marysville Schools, Gregg Morris, former superintendent at Gahanna-Jefferson and Clark-Shawnee Local schools and Thomas Shade, former superintendent at River Valley Local Schools.