Amherst names new leader
Steve Fogarty | The Chronicle-Telegram
When he begins his duties as superintendent of the Amherst school district in August, Steve Sayers won’t have to spend any time asking for directions.
In his fifth year as superintendent of Wayne County’s Southeast Local Schools in Apple Creek, Sayers, 44, will be returning to very familiar territory.
“The first house we owned was in Amherst,” he said by phone Wednesday afternoon less than two hours after word came of his selection as the district’s new leader.
Sayers formally will be named superintendent during a special school board meeting at 4 p.m. Friday in the high school media center.
He succeeds Robert Boynton, who is retiring at the end of the school year after 10 years as Amherst superintendent and 19 years as a teacher and administrator in the district.
Sayers will begin his new duties Aug. 1.
Married with three children, Sayers, 44, and his wife, Marie, were both born and raised in Lorain County. Both are graduates of Midview High School and both taught school in the Keystone system.
Sayers’ resume includes administrative posts ranging from assistant principal at Midview High and principalships at Wellington High and Midview High, where he served from 1997-2001 before becoming superintendent in Apple Creek.
The new job will bring Sayers and his family much closer to family and friends, including his parents and his wife’s father, all of whom live in Grafton.
“It’s a very attractive situation to us, represents a tremendous professional opportunity for me and greater educational opportunities for our kids,” Sayers said.
The couple’s oldest son, Todd, will be a junior at Marion L. Steele High in the fall. Daughter Julie will be in the seventh grade while their youngest son, Trent, will enter the fourth grade.
The couple already had received several congratulatory phone calls from family and friends in Lorain County by the time Sayers talked to a reporter on Wednesday afternoon.
“We’re very excited about coming back,” he said.
Sayers was chosen from an initial field of 29 candidates. Following several executive sessions to consider candidates and narrow the field, the school board chose two finalists, Sayers and Gregory Ring, who is in his eighth year with the Amherst Schools. A former middle school principal, Ring presently serves as the district’s curriculum director.
Boynton, who announced his retirement last October, said the timing of Sayers’ selection couldn’t be better. “Being able to name someone in March will provide plenty of time to do a very thorough transition so he can hit the ground running come August,” Boynton said.
With approximately 4,400 students, the Amherst system is nearly three times the size of Southeast Local, which has an enrollment of 1,700.
Sayers knows his biggest challenge will be passage of an operating levy to keep the Amherst district from a state of fiscal emergency and possible takeover by state officials.
Voters rejected a 5.77-mill issue by 11 votes in the March 4 primary. The slim margin of defeat automatically qualifies the issue for a recount by the county Board of Elections.
“That’s clearly the priority at this point but the community has a reputation for educational excellence and there’s a lot of pride there, so I’m very optimistic we’ll be able to pass a levy,” Sayers said.
Contact Steve Fogarty at 329-7146 or sfogarty@chroniclet.com.
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Filed by Steve Fogarty | The Chronicle-Telegram March 13th, 2008 in Local and State. Popularity: 2% |
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