Feb 16, 2018 3 min read

The search for a new superintendent at Carmichaels Area School District is over.

The board voted unanimously at its regular meeting Thursday night to hire elementary principal Fred Morecraft for a five-year contract at $97,000 a year, effective July 1.

The board first advertised for the position at the end of January 2017.

Outgoing Superintendent John Menhart will leave in June with 40 years service at Carmichaels and has nothing but glowing praise for his time with the district, calling it one of the finest in the state. He’s hoping to spend more time with family in retirement.

But he leaves the district in capable hands, he said. Though the switch to administration will be a significant change, Menhart is confident Morecraft is up to the task. Morecraft has leadership experience through his military work.

“I think it’s going to be a great transition. He’s a people person that’s great with kids,” he said.

The board accepted Menhart’s retirement in January 2017 and hoped to have his replacement hired by last summer to train under Menhart.

Morecraft has been with Carmichaels for 12 years, first as a sixth-grade teacher and the last three years as elementary principal. He’s also coached football and girl’s softball. He said the district has plans to start advertising for his replacement immediately to “hit the ground running next school year.”

A lifelong Greene County resident, Morecraft said he’s excited about this new role. He believes the internal hiring will provide the district with stability. With children in Carmichaels, he hopes to build on Menhart’s successes, “adding onto his accomplishments and adding my own stamp on it.”

He realizes he has big shoes to fill, but Morecraft said it would be a more natural transition already knowing the community and staff. Pushing the school towards the future with modernized technology is one of his goals.

The school initially anticipated hiring a superintendent last June to serve under Menhart as assistant superintendent ahead of his summer retirement. However, the board tabled that search last March as a cost-savings effort.

“With the budgets the way they are, it’s just fiscally responsible to wait,” Menhart said at the time, estimating a more than $100,000 savings to the district.

Menhart is a 1974 graduate of Carmichaels Area High School and began his work in the district as a health and physical education instructor before becoming an assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent and superintendent.

The practice at Carmichaels for some time has been to hire superintendents internally. Menhart was a principal with Carmichaels before being hired as assistant superintendent to the previous superintendent Craig Baily, who did the same under former superintendent Jim Zalar.