Salem school board names interim superintendent

SALEM -- The Salem Board of Education has named veteran educator Lou Ramunno to act as interim superintendent.
The board voted 5-0 Tuesday morning to appoint him during a special meeting.
Ramunno is currently the interim superintendent at the Marlington schools and briefly served as interim superintendent of the East Liverpool schools.
He retired as the superintendent at the West Branch schools.
Stephen Larcomb, Salem's superintendent, will be leaving July 31 to become superintendent at the Pleasant Local School District in Marion County, Ohio. Larcomb is from that area and two of his grown sons and their families reside there.
Ramunno will serve starting Aug. 1 and will continue until July 31, 2008, or until a new superintendent is named.
Ramunno will be paid 350 a day.
Larcomb said he had not been involved in conversations between board members and Ramunno.
It wasn't clear if he is interested in applying for the Salem position.
The only person in the Salem district with a superintendent's certification is Dennis Niederhiser, the principal at Buckeye Elementary.
Larcomb has said that Niederhiser has both the credentials and the experience to be the superintendent.
The Salem board voted to work with the Columbiana County Education Service Center and spend up to 1,000 through the center to find a replacement for Larcomb.