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Zorn to retire as Poland schools chief after 37 years
POLAND
The board of education is expected to accept the early retirement of Superintendent Robert Zorn at its Monday meeting.
Zorn is on sick leave after suffering a stroke late last week, school board President Dr. Larry Dinopoulos said. In his retirement letter sent to the board early last week before the stroke, the superintendent said he felt the time was right, especially after his youngest grandchild graduated from Poland this year.
Zorn has worked in the Poland schools for 42 years, serving as superintendent for 37. His retirement date is Dec. 31.
“He’s been a tremendous superintendent for our district. Losing him is difficult,” Dinopoulos said.
The board president added: “He is home resting comfortably and is going to do some outpatient therapy. He is taking sick time and planning to take July off using vacation time.”
Zorn’s contract was not set to end until July 31, 2016.
The board will now begin a search for a superintendent at the same time it has placed a five-year, 5.9-mill emergency operating levy, expected to generate $2.2 million annually if approved, on the Nov. 6 ballot.
Dinopoulos said the board is working with the Mahoning County Educational Services Center and plans to hire an interim superintendent by Dec. 1.
He said MCESC is providing recommendations for the interim superintendent and that the center would contract a search firm at a cost of no more than $10,000 to find Zorn’s permanent replacement.
Most school administrator jobs are posted in January and February and the board wants to advertise during that time for the new permanent superintendent, which is why an interim is needed in December for training — and then the interim will train the permanent replacement.
“We will keep the interim until the end of the school year, and we anticipate being able to hire someone permanently and have them in place by June or July [of 2013],” Dinopoulos said.
Having an interim also will allow for a thorough community-driven search, he said.
The board plans to form an official search committee in October and create focus groups of teachers, noncertified staff, parents, administrators, local businesses, community groups, students and Poland residents without students in school.
Dinopoulos said a baseline salary for a new superintendent hadn’t been decided, but estimated it would be between $80,000 and $100,000 annually. Zorn’s annual salary this year was $75,831.
Zorn retired as superintendent in 2006, when he earned about $96,000 during the 2005-06 school year and was then rehired at the salary of a top-scale teacher, about $66,000 for 2006-07. His five-year contract was renewed in April 2010.
Zorn’s current contract states that his severance will be one-third of unused sick leave based on a set per diem rate.