News

Six vying to lead schools

Jeff Schmucker
Published: November 15, 2012

BROOKSVILLE - Assistant Superintendent Ken Pritz, along with five others, is officially in the running for the top leadership position in the school district.

Others include one from Florida and the rest from Georgia, Maryland and Illinois.

According to the recent list of applicants for the superintendent role of Hernando County Schools, Pritz, who has worked for the district for 32 years and has served in various executive director positions, is the only local candidate being considered at this time.

Hernando High School teacher Herman Scriven also applied, but is not being considered due to his not meeting requirements for the job description, according to a status summary.

Pritz, who was hired this summer in the assistant superintendent role, has made no secret his intentions to hold the CEO position of the school district and was a finalist for the position in 2010 along with Bryan Blavatt, who was chosen for the position.

Following his promotion from Hernando High School principal to assistant superintendent this summer, he said his applying for Blavatt's job was a "good possibility."

However, Pritz's application won't be the only familiar one for school board members to consider.

Andrei Ghelman, a turnaround administrator from Damascus, Md., has also thrown his name in for the superintendent post for the second time.

Like Pritz, he applied for the superintendent position and an assistant superintendent post in 2009. Other positions he's applied for in the district include high school principal and director of student services.

Other applicants for the job include:

In December, Blavatt announced that this school year would be his last, saying he would like to retire and allow someone new to take over the district leadership.

School board members recently approved for applications for the $100,000- to $130,000-salaried superintendent post to be collected between Nov. 1 and Nov. 30.

District officials have indicated they would release the names and applications throughout the month of November leading up to the deadline.

An 11-member search committee will then review those applications and give recommendations to board members in February.

School board members are then slated to choose their finalists and interview them in mid-March.

jschmucker@hernandotoday.com (352) 544-5271