The Medina School Board has named Doug Eastwood and Tracy Givelekian to fill two seats left vacant on the five-member board by the resignations of Karla Robinson and Susan Vlcek.
Eastwood has lived in the district more than 50 years. Eastwood is a 1981 graduate of Medina High School. He owns and operates his own company, Medina Excavating Inc. Eastwood applied for a position on the board in 2013.
Givelekian has lived in the district for more than seven years and serves as a senior associate/editor at ICF International. Givelekian is a building levy coordinator for Sidney Fenn Elementary School and is PTO president-elect of Sidney Fenn Elementary.
Board President Tom Cahalan and board members Doug Adamczyk and Robert Skidmore met in a closed-door executive session Friday and Saturday to interview the 10 candidates for the positions and announced their decision Sunday afternoon.
“We’re looking for involved members of our community who are supportive of our schools and who have the experience to add value to the board,” Cahalan said.
Four of the applicants for the two open seats were interviewed on Friday: Dennis Churgovich, David Edmonds, Ronald Ross and Todd Gerber.
Saturday the board interviewed the remaining candidates, Eastwood, Givelekian, Christopher O’Connell, William Green, Terry Bernath, Shelby Kacludis.
Cahalan said a teacher, a student and a community member also were involved in the interviews.
“They can’t vote but they were there to listen, ask questions and give feedback,” Cahalan said.
State law requires the board to appoint the two replacements before Jan. 30. Cahalan said the board hopes to install the new members at the board’s Jan. 27 regular meeting.
Cahalan said the appointments are especially important this year, following a year of turmoil in 2013 surrounding allegations of fiscal mismanagement involving Superintendent Randy Stepp’s new contract.
The five-year contract — approved by the board on Jan. 7, 2013 but not publicized until more than a month later — included an $83,000 signing bonus.
Following a public outcry, the board placed Stepp on leave in April after requesting a special state audit of his spending. In October, following the release of the audit that found at least $4,121 in illegal spending, the board voted in to begin the process of firing Stepp.
Stepp wasn’t the only official to lose a job: None of the five board members who unanimously approved Stepp’s contract remain on the board. In addition to Robinson and Vlcek, a third board member resigned earlier, a fourth declined to run for reelection and the fifth member retired.
Cahalan said that over the next several months the board will move to hire a permanent treasurer — a vacancy left open by the resignation of district Treasurer Jim Hudson — and start the search for a new superintendent.
He said the board also must deal with several lawsuits filed by Stepp in response to his firing and the board’s decision to rescind his contract.
Cahalan said the board also must “implement the programs that the public voted for in the November levy.”
“Moving Medina Forward is our informal slogan,” he said.
School officials released the following information about the other eight applicants:
• Terry Bernath has lived in the school district for 21 years. Bernath is a retired law enforcement officer and serves on the Medina Schools’ community finance committee. Bernath applied for open board positions in 2013.
• Dennis M. Churgovich is retired and has lived in the district for 13 years. He holds a degree in computer and information science.
• David Edmonds is a retired teacher and his lived in the district for nearly 40 years. He was a teacher in Strongsville Schools, and taught at Cuyahoga Community College and Cleveland State University.
• Todd Gerber moved to Montville Township in 2013 but had lived in Wadsworth Township since 2002. Gerber is a director of category management at GOJO Industries. He holds a law degree from the University of Akron School of Law and holds additional master’s degrees in taxation and intellectual property laws. He serves on a number of local boards including the Medina County Port Authority, Wadsworth Public Library and Medina County Public Defenders Commission.
• William Green has lived in the district for more than 13 years. He serves as a human resources manager at Wolff Bros. Supply Inc. in Medina. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
• Shelby Kacludis is a nine-year resident of the district. She is the PTO president at Heritage Elementary School and a volunteer with Main Street Medina.
• Christopher O’Connell has lived in the district for more than 10 years and works as an HVAC sales manager for S.A. Comunale Co. Inc.
• Ronald Ross is a 27-year resident of the district, Ross holds a bachelor of science in engineering from the U.S. Military Academy and is a retired Medina police sergeant. Ross has applied for board positions in the past and ran for an open in seat in the November election.
Contact reporter Nancy Johnson at (330) 721-4065 or areanews@medina-gazette.com.