EDUCATION 14 apply to be next chief of Campbell schools

The board hopes to fill the position in early July.
CAMPBELL -- Fourteen candidates have applied to replace outgoing Campbell Superintendent James Ciccolelli, school board President Diane Petruska said Tuesday night.
Petruska discussed the selection process to replace Ciccolelli, a Campbell native, whose retirement resignation the board officially accepted at its meeting at Campbell Memorial High. It's effective Aug. 1.
The board had declined to renew the superintendent's contract at the end of the 2003-04 school year.
The Ohio School Board Association is conducting a statewide search for Ciccolelli's replacement and is accepting applications through June 3. Petruska said that interviews should begin by June 13 and that the board hopes to hire a new superintendent by July 4.
The OSBA search will cost the district between $5,900 and $8,200, Petruska said.
In the public comments portion of the meeting, former board member Walt Rusnak questioned the cost. He said that the Mahoning County Educational Service Center offers a similar search service for administrative personnel at a lower cost.
Petruska said, "We felt that the county's service was not as extensive and as thorough as what the OSBA offered."
She said the board has $7,500 in funds budgeted for OSBA services, which also includes conference fees.
Commencement venue
In other business, the board heard comments on the decision to hold the Campbell Memorial High graduation on June 9 at the school's D'Amato Field House instead of at Campbell Memorial Stadium, the traditional site for many years.
The graduation was held indoors for the first time last year while the 1930s-era stadium underwent extensive renovation.
"It saddens me to see our graduation exercises not on the football field," one Campbell resident said. "It's tradition, and we're losing enough things as it is."
Principal Richard Gozur said that a declining number of graduates, estimated at 94 this year, and the uncertainty of weather led to the decision.
The field house is air-conditioned and a video about the graduating class can be shown more easily inside, he said.
The board recognized Campbell Elementary School Principal Frank Edwards, who is retiring after 22 years in that position. They also recognized Damon Dohar, principal at Campbell Middle School for the past two years. He's leaving to take an administrative position in Springfield Local Schools.