Schools

Carla Harting Being Eyed As Next Superintendent

After accepting the retirement letter of Superintendent Patricia Cole, Board of Education members instantly begin talking about her replacement.

Some members are convinced they already know who should replace Superintendent , who is retiring at the end of the school year.

Carla Harting, the district's director of special education, was the only person specifically named as a candidate for Cole’s position during Tuesday’s school board meeting.

Board president Michael Swiecki said Harting is the only person he is “comfortable with” in the top job.

Find out what's happening in Wyandottewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

He said he prefers that the board appoint from within rather than hiring a company to do a search. He said it would cost about $9,500 to do such a search and that is money that could better be spent, considering there’s already a qualified candidate in the district.

Treasurer Robert Kirby said he fully supports appointing Harting to the position, saying her skill set and institutional knowledge makes her more than qualified for the position.

Find out what's happening in Wyandottewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

While he has nothing against Harting, Secretary Jerry Kusper said he would prefer that applications be sought from anyone within the district who is interested in the position before it’s offered to any single candidate.

Vice president Patrick Sutka said he wasn’t prepared to vote on a superintendent successor considering the board only accepted Cole’s notice of retirement minutes before the discussion quickly turned to who should take her position.

“This is an important decision,” he said, adding that appointing a superintendent is the “single biggest responsibility” of the board. “The process has just begun.”

Based upon the discussion that ensued, Trustee Dana Browning said it’s obvious that the tide is turning towards appointing Harting. If that’s the case, she said, spending any time debating about the process of naming a successor is just “a waste of time.”

In the end, board members agreed that Cole would gather information regarding Harting’s qualifications and send it to board members to look over and consider. She said she also could meet one-on-one with any board member who has questions about the process or Harting specifically.

Regardless of the process used, board members said they want the next superintendent to be appointed by a unanimous vote of the school board.

In addition to Cole, three other school administrators plan to retire at the end of the school year. Board members voted to accept the retirements of Director of Operations Edward Campbell, Business Manager David Gutenschwager and Payroll Administrative Assistant Patricia Markiecki.

Kirby said it’s important that a successor is named quickly, as the new superintendent should be involved in the process of filling the three other positions.

After reading Cole’s etter of retirementaloud at the meeting, the board and members of the audience gave Cole, who was in tears, a standing ovation.

She said retiring “is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”

“I truly love the community, the school district, the staff and the students,” Cole wrote in her letter. “It has been an honor and a privilege to be superintendent of this school district for the past 17 years.”


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here