01-26-2006Two candidates for the Warsaw Community School Corp. superintendent position remain.
According to School Board President Ron Yeiter this morning, “Both are very, very qualified candidates.”
Dr. Robert Haworth is the superintendent for Springs Valley School Corporation, French Lick. Dr. Terry Barker currently serves as the superintendent at River Trails School District, Mt. Prospect, Ill., School District 26.
Both candidates have experience and excellent recommendations, said Yeiter. “Our preliminary interviews were extremely good.”
Haworth already visited Warsaw Schools this week, said Yeiter. Barker was scheduled to make his visit this week, too. Both will meet with representatives from Warsaw Schools administration, PTO and the teachers association. “Pretty well a full day,” said Yeiter.
According to the Springs Valley Web site, Haworth received his bachelor’s degree from Greenville College, Greenville, Ill., in 1988. In 1995 he completed his master’s degree, and completed an educational administrative internship in 1999 from Indiana University Southeast, New Albany.
Haworth served as a social studies teacher, coach and summer youth activities coordinator for Washington Township Schools, Valparaiso in 1988. In 1990, Haworth accepted a position at Northeast Dubois High School, where he served as a social studies teacher and coached several sports teams. In Spring 2000, Haworth took a position with Springs Valley Community School Corp. His duties included assistant superintendent, athletic director and boys varsity basketball coach. In 2002 he was granted permission to participate in the Indiana State University Wednesday Residency doctoral degree program in educational leadership. In 2003, he resigned his position as boys basketball coach to complete his dissertation and pursue a position as public school superintendent. In January 2004, Haworth was named superintendent of schools for the Springs Valley Community School Corp. He received his doctorate from ISU in 2004.
Haworth is a member of the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents, National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association, Indiana Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association and the Indiana High School Basketball Coaches Association.
According to information provided by School District 26, Barker began his career as a teacher in Muncie, Ind. His teaching experiences included six years in an urban school and three years in a suburban school. Barker began his administrative career in 1982 when he accepted the position of principal in a rural district in central Indiana. As a principal, Barker provided educational leadership in rural, small city, and suburban school districts. During that time, his schools were recognized for continuous improvement in academic performance at the local and state levels.
He took a one-year sabbatical to complete his doctoral studies at Indiana University. During that time, he served in an internship capacity with the Indianapolis Public Schools in the areas of curriculum and human resource services.
In 1997, Barker moved to Illinois when he accepted his first full-time central administrative position as assistant superintendent for instruction in West Chicago Elementary District 33. Prior to leaving West Chicago to serve as assistant superintendent for human resource services in Lake Zurich, Ill., he served as assistant superintendent for human resources and technology development.
Yeiter said the school board looked at 11 candidates before narrowing down the search to Barker and Haworth. Some of the candidates, he said, are what he considers rising stars – they have the potential to be great superintendents, but aren’t quite ready.
“These two stood out tremendously,” said Yeiter of Haworth and Barker.
Both candidates likely will fulfill their contract obligations with their current school corporations, Yeiter said, before joining Warsaw, likely in June. Once aboard, they will be brought up to speed on Warsaw Schools.
Yeiter said the school board will try to make a final decision on the superintendent as quickly as they can and that the announcement will be made in a public meeting.
On July 27, by a vote of 6-to-1, the Warsaw School Board accepted the settlement agreement with, and resignation of Superintendent Dr. Dave McGuire, along with the statement concurrent with that. Ralph Bailey, Columbia City, later was named interim superintendent.
McGuire served WCS for 19 years as a teacher, a principal, an assistant superintendent and for the last three years, as superintendent. During his tenure as superintendent, he presided over the decision to close three elementary schools – Claypool, Atwood and Silver Lake. McGuire’s superintendent contract was to expire June 30, 2007, and he had an indefinite teacher contract with Warsaw Schools. The agreement allowed his contracts to be terminated “effective the close of business July 27, 2005,” and McGuire served as a consultant for the school corporation until Jan. 13. During the extended employment period, McGuire received the same salary, retirement and insurance benefits to which he was entitled under his superintendent contract – approximately $64,000.
Members of the Warsaw School Board are Yeiter, Dan Robinson, Gene England, Tammy Dalton, Deb Wiggins, Chuck Sauders and Cathy Folk.