The River Valley Board of Education unanimously approved the hiring of Jim Craycraft as interim superintendent when they met on Thursday, December 20, 2012. Craycraft will begin his duties on January 1, 2013 and has agreed to serve until a permanent superintendent is hired to replace Tom Shade, who recently retired after serving at River Valley for over 14 years.
Craycraft has 34 years of administrative experience, most of it spent at Ridgedale and Tri-Rivers. His last K-12 position was as interim superintendent for Elgin, where he led that district in the passage of a bond issue to build the first K-12 building in the county. Craycraft has also served as interim superintendent for Fairbanks in Union County and Mt. Gilead in Morrow County.
Craycraft also served as the superintendent for Ridgedale Local Schools and for Tri-Rivers Career Center. He has worked part-time at Ohio State Marion as a Coordinator of Professional Development and Director of Student Placement in the Education Department since 2001.
The River Valley board worked with the North Central Ohio Educational Service Center and Dr. Jim Lahoski to secure Craycraft’s services.
The board will continue their search for a permanent superintendent and is working with OSBA consultant Cheryl Ryan to coordinate the next phase of the process. They have named three finalists for the position – Matthew Chrispin, Principal at Marysville High School, Matthew McCorkle, Principal at Wheelersburg High School, and James Peterson, Superintendent at Fredericktown Local Schools.
In the course of the next week to ten days, the board members will continue conducting reference calls and will interview each candidate again. The River Valley community will also have a chance to meet each candidate and provide feedback to the board. The board anticipates having a permanent superintendent named in January, with the official starting date to be determined.
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