By Courtney L. Anderson
The final candidate for Reynolds School District superintendent is a principal at Union City School District in Erie County.
Joseph Neuch spoke to a crowd of about 30 parents, teachers and school board members Thursday night at the high school about his experience and goals for the district, were he to be hired.
�I believe that we all have to work together in order for Reynolds to be the best school district it can be,� Neuch said.
One thing Neuch said he would want to deal with in the beginning would be to bring a sense of cohesiveness with the staff, students and community. In talking with people during a tour of the district he said there seemed to be a �lot of frustration� because of the turnover in administration in the past few years.
Neuch said he would want to foster a sense of ownership and empowerment among students, parents and the community.
�I think we all have a part to play,� he said.
Neuch said the district must work to meet the needs of students.
�We have to train our students to be succcessful in the 21st century world," he said.
Neuch said he�d part of that success, �whether we like it or whether we don't,� is dealing with state testing requirements.
When asked about things he�s done in his career that he�s particularly proud of, Neuch mentioned several elective courses added to the curriculum at Union City. They include sports medicine, veterinary medicine and a nanotechnology class.
He said he also worked to rearrange the class schedule and helped implement science and engineering programs in the district and mentioned an apprenticeship program with a local business for seniors.
Union City has about the same number of students as Reynolds and a comparable budget, Neuch said. It�s a �small, rural community,� too, which he said he�s always enjoyed.
In addition to moving up in his career, Neuch said he and his wife are also interested in moving south because her mother is in a nursing home south of Youngstown and they would like to be closer to her.
When asked about his strengths and weaknesses, Neuch said he�s always been a quick learner and is not someone who thinks everyone has to agree with him. He also said he�s willing to listen to everyone�s ideas.
His main weakness is that he�s never been a superintendent before, so he has �a lot of things to learn.�
Neuch noted that any weaknesses are of �inexperience, not ability.�
A former social studies teacher at Union City, where he also served as dean of students prior to being named principal of the middle-high school in 2006, Neuch got his bachelor�s and master�s degrees from Edinboro University.
He was also a part-time pastor for the Church of the Nazarene and taught for one year at Community Country Day School in Erie.
About a dozen people applied for the superintendent job and Pennsylvania School Boards Association officials have been helping school directors search for a new superintendent since the June retirement of Donald B. Thomas, who stepped down after five months, saying the board wouldn't let him do his job.
Karen A. Ionta, who retired this summer as superintendent of Hermitage School District, has been working at Reynolds a few days a week at temporary superintendent since Sept. 2.
Board members will likely decide at their Dec. 16 meeting if they want to hire Neuch or start a new search.
