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Struthers board hires new superintendent
By jeanne starmack
struthers
The Struthers school board hired a new superintendent at a special meeting Monday.
Joseph Nohra Jr., 41, who’s now principal of the Mosaic School of Fine and Performing Arts in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District, will succeed Robert Rostan, who’s been superintendent for four years, Jan. 1.
The board hired Nohra at $90,000 a year until July 31, 2016. The salary is prorated from Jan. 1 to July 31, 2013.
The board also appointed him as a consultant beginning Dec. 1 until Dec. 31 at $346 a day.
Nohra also has been a principal, athletic director and assistant athletic director in the Austintown Local Schools. A Liberty Township resident, he is president of the Liberty Local Schools Board of Education.
The board chose Nohra from two finalists who made presentations last week. Timothy Kelty, an assistant principal at Austintown Fitch High School who also was a principal at Woodside Elementary in Austintown, was the other finalist. They were chosen from six applicants.
“Any decision is tough, especially when we have the quality finalists we had last week,” board member Dennis Spisak said Monday.
“We did check references, and weighed our decision very heavily on the fact he brings a lot of experience to the table,” said board president Sheri Noble. “It was a difficult decision. He comes highly recommended, and I think he’s going to do a great job for the school system.”
Nohra said his top priority is continuing with the district’s quality instruction.
“We have outstanding schools,” he said. “They’ve been rated excellent and we want to continue that.
“I want to serve the community and work with the kids and staff,” he continued.
“For the board to put their trust in me, I’m completely blown away by that,” he added.
Nohra told the board last week that if he were to be appointed, his family, including his wife, Annie, and sons Joseph, 8, and Dominic, 6, will move to Struthers.