`School superintendent pick may be near`

By Jennifer Hall
Herald Staff Writer

Sharon school directors could select a new superintendent as early as Monday and a Hempfield Township man is the only candidate to be interviewed a second time.

``At this point we have done the first and second round of interviews,'' said Lora Adams-King, school board president. ``We may or may not be ready to name anybody Monday, but we could take action as early as Monday night.''

Mrs. Adams-King said much of the board's superintendent discussion will take place at an executive session tonight.

Richard Rossi, superintendent of Franklin schools and former assistant principal at Hickory High School in Hermitage, returned for a second interview, and Mrs. Adams-King called him a strong candidate.

``We are down to a process of elimination and he has made the second round,'' she said. ``He's the only one in the second round. But nothing is etched in stone.''

Rossi, who left Hermitage in August 1992, told a reporter for the Franklin News Herald and Oil City Derrick that he has not been offered the job in Sharon.

And David Weeter, Franklin School Board president, told the newspapers he understood Rossi has been looking at property to move to Franklin. Also, none of the Sharon school board members contacted him for references, he said.

The Herald was unable to contact Rossi.

It's a difficult search because the board is looking for someone in the middle of the school year, Mrs. Adams-King said. Directors hope to have the position filled by January.

Former Superintendent Donald B. Thomas retired in June and the director of curriculum and instruction, Dr. Donna DeBonis, has been filling in since then.

``We are determined to get the right person. That's very important to us,'' Mrs. Adams-King said. ``We are not going to take just any candidate.''

If the board is not pleased with the candidates, Mrs. Adams-King said, members have decided to suspend the search and start again.

``We are only pulling the strongest candidates,'' she said. ``But you can be very close to a decision and everything can fall apart.''

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Updated Oct. 15, 1997
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