Heights interviews superintendent candidates
Four candidates have been interviewed for the superintendent’s position at Jackson Heights. The candidates have included Dr. Voloroa Hanzlicek, Dustin D. McEwen, Jennifer Gatz and James N. Howard, according to the USD 335 Board of Education.
The school board met with the four candidates this week to determine who will fill the superintendent position currently held by Adrianne Walsh, who announced in January that she would be leaving the district at the end of the current school year after 14 years with the district, the last 10 as superintendent.
The names of superintendent candidates were not disclosed until the day that each candidate was confirmed to meet with the school board.
On Tuesday, the board met with Hanzlicek, who is currently in her third year as superintendent at Valley Falls USD 338. Hanzlicek previously served as a consultant for Southwest Plains Regional Service Center for five years and as an assistant superintendent at Prairie Hills USD 113 for six years.
On Wednesday, the board met with McEwen, currently in his ninth year of serving Norton USD 211 as its seventh and eighth-grade principal and athletic director. McEwen has previously served in administrative positions at Leoti-Wichita County USD 467 and Cheney USD 268.
Gatz, who is serving her first year as the assistant superintendent at Sabetha, was interviewed Thursday. Gatz previously served as the director of student learning for four years at Sabetha. She also served for a year each as administrative intern, instructional coach and instructional technology specialist for the St. Joseph Public Schools in St. Joseph, Mo.
Today (Friday), Howard is being interviewed. He is currently serving his fifth year as the superintendent of schools for USD 412 in Hoxie. Previously, he served two years as middle school principal in USD 234 in Fort Scott and two years as middle school principal in USD 466 in Scott City. He also served three years as district administrator for the Doniphan West School District and a kindergarten through eighth-grade principal for one year in Copeland.
Videos featuring short question-and-answer sessions with each of the candidates will be posted this week at the Jackson Heights Web site, www.jhcobras.net
