COLUMBIANA - Four candidates for the superintendent of schools job left vacant by Ron Iarussi's departure in July faced the public and school staff members in interviews Monday evening at the high school.

The board of Education hopes to name the next superintendent Aug. 11.

Kenneth Ekis, the first candidate to face the public, is the current director of special services at Campbell City Schools and has been principal of elementary schools in the Youngstown, Poland and Twinsburg school districts and middle school principal at Crestview Middle School. He began his education career in 1974 as a teacher at Austintown Elementary School and also served as the high school basketball coach.

He received his master of science and bachelor of science degrees as well as his superintendent certificate from Youngstown State University.

The top three priorities Ekis listed for a school district are academics, safety and finances, in no specific order.

"If we get any of those things out of whack, then we get in trouble," he said.

For safety, he said his current school district locks all its doors once students are inside, performs drills on buses and schools for fires, tornadoes and lockdown situations and contacts parents for any safety issues, even if a student just fell down. The most dangerous situation he faced was while working in Youngstown, when seven gunshots rang out while children were getting off buses and the school went into lockdown.

If appointed, he said he would be active in the community, would work here for the rest of his career, which would be five to seven years and would want to move here, but noted the economy is not good and he would want to make sure the Board of Education and the community would want to keep him here.

Donald Mook Jr., the second candidate, is principal at David Anderson Jr. Sr. High School in Lisbon, where he has also been assistant principal, computer coordinator and computer science teacher. He has also been adult education teacher for Alliance City Schools and was a permanent substitute in Boardman, starting his career in 1992, as well as coaching several sports.

He received his master of science and bachelor of science degrees and his superintendent endorsement from Youngstown State University.

Mook is a strong believer in technology in education, hoping to phase out paper and implement laptop computers in classrooms, substituting the costs of textbooks and paper to fund technology.

Two changes through which he thinks he helped Lisbon were implementing algebra I at the eighth grade level, which will eventually allow for a high school calculus course, and implementing a middle school intervention period to allow teachers to work with students struggling with the Ohio Achievement Test.

On the question of a K-12 facility, Mook said the school district could save money by sharing staffing between buildings. While the issue of younger students being influenced by older students could be a problem, he said it could also be a benefit if staff arranges for older students to help out younger classes as good influences.

If appointed, he said he would move here and prioritize his time to support kids and help parents with issues.

Tom Yazvac, the third candidate, is principal at neighboring Springfield Elementary School and that district's assistant superintendent, administrative assistant and federal grants coordinator. He has been assistant principal at Beaver Local High School and Indian Creek Junior High School, choral music director at Salem Junior High School and music director at St. Dominic School.

He received his bachelor of arts, master of music, master of science and superintendent license from Youngstown State University.

"I feel like this is a great and upcoming school district and I'd like to be part of it," he said, noting this is the first superintendent position for which he has applied. While he is projected to become superintendent of Springfield Schools in three years, he said he feels Columbiana is a good fit for him and, if appointed, he would not leave the job for Springfield.

Yazvac wouldn't make any changes right away, saying he would want to sit back and evaluate everything first. He noted taking input from the public is important, saying, "If the community isn't behind an idea, it will flop."

Similarly, he said he is in support of the arts and life skills and will put them back in place if the community wants them. "Everything has costs," he noted. "Is the community going to pay for that? ... That's when you have to get creative."

He also doesn't understand how some districts can justify eliminating physical education teachers when active students are shown to have better performance.

Yazvac said he believes in leading by example and setting the tone for the staff.

David Cappuzzello, current high school principal for Columbiana, was interviewed last. He has been a middle school principal and assistant principal in Ravenna and a teacher of several subjects at Lakeview Local School District in Cortland, beginning his career in 1989, and has received numerous Coach of the Year awards.

He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Akron and his superintendent certificate from Ashland University.

With the superintendent and middle school principal positions currently open, one resident worried if Cappuzzello were appointed, it would leave a vacancy at the middle school as well.

Cappuzzello had been middle school principal until last month after Iarussi and former high school principal Tim Saxton announced their departure and the board named Cappuzzello as high school principal. He noted the school district already has 34 applications in place for the middle school principal position and, if appointed superintendent, he would recommend the appointment of an interim high school principal because he would not expect many permanent applications this late in the summer.

Having been in Columbiana since 2006, he said he has a few plans he would be ready to implement as superintendent. The first would be a Latin program at the high school, because Latin can broaden a person's vocabulary greatly.

At the middle school, he would keep a close eye on open enrollment numbers and staffing placement and would place greater focus on using those years for exploration into the future. He said he would also make a bigger push for math and reading at the elementary school.

He showed enthusiasm for individualized education, noting not all students are college-bound.

mschomer@mojonews.com