U-234 chief chosen; Diane Gross was deputy superintendent in Liberal.

Gross

The USD 234 school district has announced Thursday night that Diane Gross is its new superintendent.

A motion was made by school board members for President Janet Braun to sign and accept the contract for Gross.

Gross will replace longtime Superintendent Rick Werling, whose contract ends June 30. Werling has been with USD 234 for 32 years.

USD 234 school board President Janet Braun accepts and signs the contract for the new superintendent Diane Gross, as school board member Justin Meeks watches. School board members unanimously approved of Braun accepting and signing the contract for Gross, who will officially start on July 1 replacing Superintendent Rick Werling.(Angelique McNaughton/Tribune)

"I want to thank everyone in Fort Scott who helped the board with the superintendent search," Braun said after signing the document. "We very much appreciate the input both from the inside, within the school and from the outside, in the community. We'll be very sad to see Dr. Werling retire and there is no doubt we will miss him. But we are looking forward to the beginning of Dr. Gross' leadership of USD 234."

Gross, who will officially start July 1, comes to the district from USD 480 in Liberal, where she is currently deputy superintendent. Prior to that appointment, Gross was assistant superintendent for Learning Services, Assessment, and Data for USD 261 in Haysville. Gross has 29 years of experience in education.

Werling announced his early retirement at the Feb. 13 school board meeting.

The school board began the search for a new superintendent at the beginning of March and hired Doug Moeckel of the Kansas Association of School Boards to assist with the search and narrow down candidates.

Three finalists were chosen, including Fort Scott High School Principal Bob Beckham and USD 348 superintendent Paul Dorathy. Fourteen originally applied for the position.

"I think we had three awesome candidates and they were all amazing," school board member Belynda Davenport said. "All of them were very qualified and it was a tough decision."

Three other district administrators announced their retirements in early February when Werling did. Trustees previously said they would hold off on filling those positions until a new superintendent was hired.

The board also approved the following employment matters: the hiring of Abby Ward as a second grade teacher at Winfield Scott; and the resignation of Barbara Bradley as the Fort Scott Middle School cook.

The next regularly scheduled Board of Education meeting is May 14.