Spring-Ford: New superintendent choice to be voted upon Monday [updated]

The Spring-Ford Area School Board will vote to hire Dr. David Goodin as the district's next superintendent at the May 16th work session, the school district announced shortly after noon today.

Dr. Goodin is currently the superintendent for the Connellsville Area School District in Connellsville, which is located in Fayette County and southeast of Pittsburgh. The Connellsville Area School District serves 5,100 students, employs 412 teachers and is made up of 12 buildings. The district's 2010-11 budget was $70,122,300.

Goodin's employment agreement with the Connellsville district runs until January 2 of next year.

Like Spring-Ford and many other school districts around the state, the Connellsville district is facing dire budget straits. The Daily Courier of Connellsville reported in late April that Goodin planned to propose furloughing teachers at the CASD's May board meeting in order to help close a $7.1 million budget deficit.

Unlike Spring-Ford, the Connellsville district is also considering the closure of four elementary schools.

"He's got a lot of experience [with difficult financial conditions]," Spring-Ford school board president Joseph Ciresi said of Goodin early Thursday afternoon.

According to information provided by the Spring-Ford School District, Goodin has more than 19 years of experience in public education. Prior to his time at Connellsville, Goodin served for a year as superintendent for the Harmony Area School District in Indiana County. Before becoming a superintendent, Goodin served as a middle school principal and middle school assistant principal at Chestnut Ridge School District in Bedford County.

"His vision is what I was always looking for. I wouldn't be supporting him if I didn't think he could get us to where we need to be," Ciresi said.

Dr. Goodin received his bachelor's degree in secondary education from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), his master's in history from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, and his doctoral degree in education, administration and leadership from IUP.

If the Board approves his contract, Dr. Goodin will replace Superintendent Dr. Marsha Hurda, who is retiring in mid-July.

"I'm not looking for someone to fill Dr. Hurda's shoes. I'm looking for someone to be our next superintendent. I don't want people to compare [superintendents]. Everybody's different," Ciresi said.

Ciresi said that Goodin is expected to attend the Monday work session and will "probably" be available to take questions from the public.

The Spring-Ford position is not the only superintendent job for which Goodin has recently been considered. The Williamsport Sun-Gazette reported last November that Goodin was a finalist to become the superintendent in the Southern Tioga School District in Tioga County.

The work session will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the cafeteria of the 10-12 Center, 350 S. Lewis Road.

Information from a Spring-Ford Area School District press release was used in this report.