SUSD Board announces Superintendent candidate finalists
Six scheduled for interviews; public forums April 3

The Governing Board of the Scottsdale Unified School District will interview six candidates and hold two public forums in its search for a new superintendent for the district.

The six candidates announced today by the Governing Board are:

• Tacy Ashby, deputy superintendent of Public Instruction for the State of Arizona.
• Dr. John Baracy, superintendent of the Tempe Elementary School District
• Dr. Rochonne Bria, superintendent of the Battle Ground School District in Battle Ground, Wash.
• Dr. Marjorie Kaplan, superintendent of the Shawnee Mission Unified School District in Overland Park, Kan.
• Dr. Vickie Markavitch, superintendent of the Penn-Harris-Madison School District in Mishawaka, Ind.
• Dr. Carol (Kit) Wood, superintendent of the Maricopa County Regional School District.

The Governing Board will schedule interviews with the candidates on Thursday, April 1, and Friday, April 2. Public forums will be held on Saturday, April 3, at the following schools:

• 10 a.m. at Chaparral High School, 6935 E. Gold Dust Ave.
• 2 p.m. at Coronado High School, 2501 N. 74th St.

Board members hope to select a new superintendent as soon as possible upon completion of the public process. The new superintendent will begin July 1, succeeding Dr. Barbara Erwin, who has announced she will leave on June 30 to become superintendent of the St. Charles Community Unit School District in Illinois. Dr. Erwin has been superintendent of the Scottsdale schools since March 2000.

Ms. Ashby has been the deputy superintendent of Public Instruction since January 2003. Before being appointed to that position, she served as assistant superintendent at the Paradise Valley and Cave Creek school districts since November 1999, and as principal of Sonoran Sky and Sandpiper elementary schools in the Paradise Valley district from 1987 to 1999. She is a graduate of Saguaro High School and Arizona State University and is scheduled to receive her Ph.D. from Arizona State in May.

Dr. Baracy has been the superintendent of the Tempe Elementary School District since April 1, 1999. Before that he served as superintendent of the Roosevelt School District in Phoenix from 1992 to 1999 and deputy superintendent and interim superintendent of the Phoenix Union High School District. He is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University and received his doctorate from Arizona State University.

Dr. Bria has been the superintendent in the Battle Ground, Wash., School District since 1998. Before accepting that position she served for 10 years in the Pendergast School District in Phoenix, including nearly five years as superintendent. She received her bachelor’s master’s and doctoral degrees from Arizona State University.

Dr. Kaplan has been the superintendent of the Shawnee Mission Unified School District in Kansas since 1992. Before moving to Kansas, she was superintendent of the Paradise Valley School District from 1984 to 1992 and assistant superintendent of that district from 1981 to 1984. She also served as principal in the Washington Elementary School District from 1977 to 1981. She is a graduate of Smith College in Massachusetts and received her Ph.D. from Arizona State University.

Dr. Markavitch has served as superintendent of the Penn-Harris-Madison School District in Mishawaka, Ind., since 1998. Prior to that she served as superintendent of the Niles Township High School District in Skokie, Ill., from 1995 to 1998, and as superintendent of the Skokie Elementary District from 1987 to 1995. She is a graduate of Michigan State University and received her Ph.D. from Michigan State.

Dr. Wood has been superintendent of the Maricopa County Regional School District since 2002. She also worked in the Deer Valley School District for 28 years as a teacher, assistant principal, principal and district administrator.

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