Superintendent Candidate Field Narrows to Eight

The field of candidates seeking the helm of the Lake Wales Charter Schools got a bit smaller this week as two of the remaining candidates have withdraw their applications.

The search now narrows to eight after two applicants withdrew. Those two were Dr. Ronald J Iasruss, Superintendent of the Marion City Schools in Marion Ohio, and James T. Stroder, Superintendent of the Rogersville City School in Tennessee. They had been selected to advance to the next round in the selection process.

In the order in which their original applications were received, the remaining candidates are Dr. Andrei Ghelman, Mr. P. J. D'Aoust, Dr. Wayne Rodolfich, Dr. Brian Rau, Dr. Andy Oguntola, Dr. Emilean Clemons, Mr. Anuj Saran, and Dr. Peggy Aune.

The opportunity to lead the acclaimed school system, one of the only community-based charter conversion systems in the nation, generated significant interest. The search for applicants, advertised nationally, drew a field of twenty-five, representing eleven states. Fifteen held doctorate degrees.

The remaining applicants have been asked to submit answers to five questions. Three must be provided in video responses, and two in a written format. Those responses are due no later than 5:00 on December 16. It remains to be seen if all candidates will meet that deadline. which will allow the committee time to review all ten applicant responses before their next meeting on January 10.

After the Search Committee receives the responses they will also be posted on the website portal so that the public may review them. The Search Committee will identify semi-finalists from this group before scheduling ZOOM Interviews on January 20, 2022.

The remaining eight viable candidates for the position include two women and six men. Five are from Florida, two from Louisiana. and one from Kentucky. One currently works for the Lake Wales Charter Schools, and another for the Polk County Schools System. Six hold doctorates, and at lest one expects to complete that degree this year. Several mention fund-raising acumen.

The 10-member search committee consists of Al Goldstein (Chair), Dr. Linda Ray, Shelli Jacobs, Rob Quam, Roxanne Anderson, Father Tim Nunez, Angela Pulido, Mike Settle, Abigail Skipper, and Lindsey Seay.