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Vickie Peek | Reporter
USD 420 Osage City Superintendent David Carriger has accepted a
position as USD 493 Superintendent in Columbus, effective July 1.
Carriger will take the place of Ken Jones, who is retiring after
this school year and has been USD 493’s superintendent since
1999.
Carriger was high school principal in Osage City for six years before
assuming the duties of USD 420 superintendent for the last 11 years.
Carriger said he is proud of the success of Osage City students.
He talked of the students’ many accomplishments, such as better
assessment scores, state championships, league championships, an
increased number of graduating students and decreased number of
dropouts. He praised the district’s work with at-risk students.
“Seeing Osage City students succeed locally and all over the
world has been very meaningful for me,” Carriger said.
He praised the teachers, staff and administrators of USD 420, and
said the community has chosen the best people to serve as school
board members.
“The school board has accomplished a great deal with their
leadership and vision,” Carriger said.
The USD 420 Board of Education will discuss the search for a new
superintendent in the board’s March 11 meeting.
Carriger and his wife, Debbie, plan to relocate to Columbus in mid-June.
She has been an online learning coordinator for students taking
online courses and for at-risk students at USD 420.
Columbus USD 493 is twice the size of Osage City and will provide
many opportunities for Carriger to demonstrate the superintendent
skills he used in Osage City.
Columbus is located in the southeast corner of Kansas, close to
Joplin and the Oklahoma border.
One reason Carriger applied for the Columbus position was to move
him closer to his parents, as well as Debbie’s, in Oklahoma.
Carriger graduated from high school in Broken Arrow, Okla.
“There were 18 applicants, and more than half had superintendent
experience,” said Howard Shuler, consultant with McPherson
& Jacobson, L.L.C., of Omaha, Neb., which conducted USD 493’s
search for a new superintendent.
Three finalists were chosen from 18 applicants. Finalists were interviewed
by USD 493 board of education and representatives from focus groups.
The focus groups represented parents, students, classified staff,
certified staff, administrators and central office personnel.
Contract details were finalized Feb. 20 by the USD 493 board with
Shuler’s assistance. Carriger accepted the position the same
evening.
Carriger and his family have lived in Osage City for the past 17
years. Their sons, Brian and Craig, attended Osage City schools.
Brian is a deputy sheriff in Garnett, and will marry Jacque Carroll,
of Burleson, Texas, Feb. 28, with a local reception at a later date.
Craig is a sophomore at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New
York City.
“This is home,” Carriger said. “We’re leaving
our home after 17 years. It’s tough. We love the people here.”
He said they will miss Osage City and their many friends in the
Osage City community. |
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