Columbiana BOE to hire official

By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
COLUMBIANA -- Schools Superintendent Dr. Joseph Rottenborn will have a busy final meeting when the board of education meets at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Columbiana High School.
The board will hire Rottenborn's replacement and will hear from baseball players and parents.
Rottenborn, in the final year of a three-year contract, will retire later this month. He will have completed a 30-year education career and seven years as Columbiana superintendent.
The board has chosen four finalists from a list of 25 candidates: Albert A. Toth, South Range middle school principal; Robert A. Rostan, Poland Seminary High School associate principal; Nancy L. Williams, Howland Schools elementary curriculum supervisor; and Patricia Hura, Trumbull Career and Technical Center director and principal.
Other matters: Baseball players and parents have asked to address the board. In November, the board chose not to renew the contract of varsity baseball head coach Bruce Wolfe. Wolfe teaches high school math and has been varsity baseball coach for 12 seasons.
The board also is expected to accept a $10, 000 donation to the district from Mr. and Mrs. Richard Pennell. The Pennells are making the donation in the name of their daughter, Brynne Nicole Pennell, 4, who will attend Columbiana Schools, and a niece, Kaitlin Rae Steeb. The money would likely be used for the district's athletic complex planned adjacent to the new high school and middle school campus.
Rottenborn is expected to give updates on that project as well as the need for roof repairs or replacement at the middle school and Joshua Dixon Elementary. He is also to give the district's 2001 annual report.