Interim chosen as Ohio schools chief

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

A nationwide search for Ohio’s next public-schools superintendent ended in a surprise twist Tuesday, when the state Board of Education suddenly interviewed and then hired the man who already was temporarily filling the job.

The 15-0 vote to hire interim Superintendent Stan Heffner meant the board passed over Robert Schiller, who became the lone finalist from the board’s top-three picks Sunday after a second contender dropped out. Four board members abstained on the Heffner hiring vote.

“A funny thing happened on my way to Texas,” Heffner said after the vote. He had been slated to begin a new job with Educational Testing Service’s office in San Antonio on Aug. 1.

Heffner has been serving as the interim superintendent since May, after former state schools chief Deborah Delisle resigned under political pressure. She has said she had been told by Gov. John Kasich’s staff that the state board would vote to replace her if she did not leave. Delisle got the job while Democrat Ted Strickland was governor.

Heffner told reporters Tuesday he got the offer from ETS the same day he was nominated to take over as interim superintendent. But, he said, “the more I got into the work of the interim superintendent, I knew that this was really what my passion was all about.SDRq