At the Thursday, March 30 meeting of the Ada Board of Education, board members approved a motion to hire Dennis L. Recker as interim superintendent for a period of 11 months, from August 2023 to June 2024. The board also approved an earlier retirement date for Superintendent Robin Vanbuskirk of June 31, 2023. Therefore an appointment will be needed to cover the month of July 2023.

New hires for 2023-2024 also included Carrie Smith, 6th grade social studies and science teacher; and Zachary Dunn, high school chemistry and physics teacher.

In the New Business segment of the meeting, board members discussed the opportunity to join the Blanchard Valley Conference, their impressions of the March 6 community forum on this topic, and their perspectives on the issue. Board president Matt Gossman noted the lack of depth on Ada teams and said he felt Ada would be competitive in the BVC. Vice President Amy Mullins did not comment. Ron Fleming said he was leaning toward the change and noted that while football is seen as guiding this decision, soccer is becoming more popular and that children begin to play soccer at a very young age. Ted Griffith was disappointed that individual schools in the BVC had not reached out to Ada and said he was not ready to vote. Steve Ramey praised the way participants discussed the change and the public meeting and noted the risk of injury for younger football players.

Gossman called for the issue to be put on the April agenda.

CONTINUES