Kentucky School Advocate
May 2021
Former Highlands H.S. principal named Ft. Thomas superintendent
The Fort Thomas school board has named Brian Robinson as its next superintendent. Robinson served as principal of Highlands High School until 2017. Recently, Robinson served as executive director of Advanced Placement implementation at The College Board and as the high school associate director for Teaching and Learning at the Forest Hills School District in Ohio.
“Leading the Fort Thomas Independent Schools as superintendent is both a great privilege and responsibility, and I would like to thank everyone involved for their confidence in me to guide our schools forward,” Robinson said.
Board chairwoman Ann Meyer thanked the candidates both locally and from around the country that submitted applications and noted the board unanimously chose Robinson.
“Mr. Robinson outlined a clear vision for building on past successes and positioning our students to achieve in a 21st century environment,” she said. “Of course, we remember clearly the wonderful job Mr. Robinson did leading Highlands High School and we anticipate similar outcomes as he moves to the superintendent’s office.”
Robinson will begin on July 1.
Ft. Thomas superintendent headed to Colorado
Fort Thomas superintendent Karen Cheser who announced her retirement earlier this year, has been selected as the superintendent of Durango School District 9-R in Durango, Colo.
The Durango school board unanimously selected Cheser over two other finalists, according to the Durango Herald.
“I think fit is the key word,” Durango board member Mick Souder said according to the paper. “All the candidates were excellent. When you look back, Dr. Cheser seemed to be the best fit.”
The Durango School District 9-R has 5,419 students in 12 schools, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
Marshall Co. superintendent retires
After 13 years as Marshall County superintendent, Trent Lovett announced on March 18 that he has decided to retire at the end of this school year.
“It has been an absolute pleasure serving the young people of Marshall County as a teacher, coach and administrator for the past 32 years,” Lovett said in his resignation letter.
Lovett noted that the district has built a new middle school, renovated its high school, provided teacher raises and is in a good financial position. However, the darkest day in his career was when two students were killed in a 2018 shooting at the high school, he told WPSD-TV. He then made it a priority to do what he could to make sure something like that never happened again.
“You feel like it's on your watch, absolutely. You want to do everything possible to make sure something like that doesn't happen again,” he said. Lovett noted in his resignation letter that the district now has 11 safety officers.
KSBA Superintendent Search Service Consultant Quin Sutton said he was sure the board will have many applicants.
“I think knowing Marshall County’s educational status across the state, people respect Marshall County,” he said, according to the Marshall County Tribune Courier. “I think you will have a lot of up and coming administrators that want to be superintendents to apply, and I think you’ll see some existing superintendents that will probably want to move.”
Caldwell Co. hires Union Co. assistant superintendent
The Caldwell County school board has hired Jeremy Roach to lead the district. Roach is currently the assistant superintendent of secondary schools and director of pupil personnel for Union County Schools.
The board chose Roach out of 17 applicants to the job.
Board member Stacy Brantley said she is confident Roach will meet the needs of Caldwell County, according to the Times Leader.
Roach, whose family accompanied him to the meeting, said he plans to move his family to Princeton and his children will attend Caldwell County schools.
“What I told the board during the interview, we’re here to serve this community that’s what we want to do, is come and do what’s best for kids, and I know that’s what’s in the board’s hearts as well,” he said in an interview with WKDZ Radio.
In the coming weeks, Roach plans to work with interim superintendent Health Cartwright to prepare for summer break. Cartwright will act as interim superintendent until June 30.