By Larry Coonrod, Lebanon Express writer | Posted: Friday, October 31, 2008 12:00 am
The Lebanon School Board has selected five candidates for the interim superintendent position and will conduct public interviews with them next Tuesday and Wednesday.
The audience comment portion of the two sessions, scheduled for after the interviews, had been removed from an amended meeting agenda released by the district Friday afternoon.
Betsy Miller-Jones, of the Oregon School Boards Association, which is handling the interim search on behalf of the district, said one candidate had raised concerns about letting audience members comment. She said there could be legal consequences to negative comments made about the candidates and she wants to discuss that with the board at Monday's regular board meeting.
School board chair Josh Wineteer said the decision on audience comments has not been finalized.
The schedule for public interviews is as follows:
Tuesday, Nov. 4:
€ 7 p.m. George Lanning
€ 8 p.m. Rob Thomason
€ 9 p.m. Ed Sansom
Wednesday, Nov. 5:
7 p.m. Bob Sari
8 p.m. Al Davidian
The school board will convene into executive session after the Davidian interview to discuss applicants. The board's choice will not be made public until after legal counsel for the district and new interim superintendent have reached a contract agreement, a process that could take up to a week, said Miller-Jones.
The following information on candidates' experience and education background is based resumes given to the Lebanon School District.
George Lanning
George Lanning was employed by the Amity School District from 1977 to 2002 - superintendent from 1985 to 1999, consulting superintendent from 1999 to 2000, superintendent again from 2000 to 2001 and interim superintendent from 2001 to 2002.
Prior to the Amity School District, Lanning taught agriculture and vocational classes at Sheridan High School and at Illinois Valley High School in Grants Pass, Ore.
He served as the interim principal of the William J. Lord High School at the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn from 2006 to 2007. He was the executive director of the the Oregon Small Schools Association from 2002 to 2004.
Lanning enlisted in the Oregon National Guard in 1971 and retired as a Colonel in 2006. He holds a master's degree in education from Oregon State University and superintendent and principal certifications from the University of Oregon.
Robert Thomason
Robert Thomason was the superintendent of the Nenana City School District in Nenana, Ala. from July 2005 until June 2008. Prior to that he worked for the Forest Grove School district for 16 years. While at Forest Grove Thomason held principalships at the elementary and middle school levels and served as the director of human resources and information technology.
Thomason has taught in elementary grades in California, Australia and Saudi Arabia. He was the principal of an intermediate school in Weiser, Idaho, from 1979 to 1984. During that time he also was an adjunct professor at Albertsons College of Idaho, where he taught master level courses in school administration and principalship.
Thomason has a doctorate in education from the University of Nevada.
Ed Sansom
Ed Sansom has been principal at Seven Oak Middle School in Lebanon since 2003. From 2002-2003 he was principal of Central Linn High School. Sansom served as the superintendent of the St. Regis School District in St. Regis, Mont. from 1998 to 2002. He was the area director/assistant superintendent for the Bonner County School District in Sandpoint, Idaho from 1995 to 1998.
Sansom started his career in 1975 as a high school English instructor in Superior, Mont. He has been a coach, activities director, curriculum director and Title 9 coordinator. He has written and administered a number of grants ranging in size from $80,000 to $400,000.
He has a master's degree in education from the University of Montana, where he also began a doctorate's program in 1996. Sansom said he plans to enter the Oregon State University doctorate cohort program next year to finish his degree.
Robert Sari
Robert "Bob" Sari most recently served as interim superintendent of Harney County Union High School District and Harney County School District, Crane Union High School and Crane Elementary School District from March 2007 until February 2008. He was superintendent of the North Lake School District in Silver Lake from 1999 to 2002 after briefly serving as an interim there.
Sari was the superintendent of the Santiam School District from 1994-1998, and the superintendent in Harney County from 1992 to 1994.
He started his career in education at Springfield High School in 1965. In addition to superintendent he has been a principal, teacher, coach, athletic director and dean of students. Sari is a graduate of the standard superintendent program at Lewis and Clark College.
Al Davidian
Davidian retired from the North Marion School District in 2003 after serving as superintendent for seven years. Previous to that he was the superintendent of Barnstable School District in Hyannis, Mass.
Since retiring, Davidian has been a consultant and served as interim superintendent. From January to June 2006 he was the interim superintendent for the Veronia School District in Veronia.
The Camas School District in Camas, Wash., hired Davidian as interim from July 2004 until June 2005.
The Lebanon School Board contracted Davidian last January to facilitate a discussion on how to implement a district wide review, which the board ultimately declined to conduct because of costs.
Davidian was a principal at Klamath Union High School in Klamath Falls and a guidance counselor and administrative assistant in Highland Park, Ill. He has a doctoral degree in education administration from the University of Illinois.