The Crystal City Board of Education has hired a new superintendent – Steven Barnes, who’s currently an assistant superintendent for the Morgan County R-3 School District in Versailles in southwestern Missouri.
Barnes, 50, of Barnett will take over the top job at Crystal City on July 1.
He will replace former Superintendent Philip Harrison, who was put on paid administrative leave on Aug. 29, 2018, and then retired on Feb. 14.
Crystal City school board members voted unanimously during a March 28 closed meeting to hire Barnes, who was offered a two-year contract and will be paid a $120,000 salary during the 2019-2020 school year.
Ken Holdinghausen, the board president, said Barnes’ “personality, background and experience” stood out among the four finalists for the job.
He said 15 people applied for the position, and the Missouri School Boards Association, which the school district hired to oversee the hiring process, screened the applicants and narrowed them to four finalists for the board to interview.
The district will pay MSBA 7 percent of the new superintendent’s first-year salary, or $8,400, for facilitating the superintendent search.
Barnes, who is being paid a $102,000 annual salary at Morgan County schools, said he is looking forward to his new job at Crystal City.
“I’m excited about getting up there and getting involved,” he said. “I like the small-town feel. It seemed like the right place for me.”
Barnes, who has four adult children and two grandchildren, said he plans to move closer to Crystal City.
“Somewhere in Jefferson County,” he said. “My kids and grandkids are in St. Charles. I’m three hours away now. This will be closer.”
Barnes has a bachelor’s degree in fisheries and wildlife from the University of Missouri in Columbia and worked several years for the Missouri Department of Conservation before changing careers to education.
He has a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from William Woods University in Fulton and a doctorate in educational leadership from Maryville University in St. Louis County.
Barnes said he hasn’t yet set goals for when he takes over as the Crystal City’s superintendent.
“I don’t have anything real specific other than to live up to the mission of the schools and get involved in the community,” he said.
Goodwin now leading
Crystal City Schools
Holdinghausen said D.J. Goodwin, a retired administrator from the Dunklin R-5 School District, took over as Crystal City’s interim superintendent in February.
Goodwin will continue to guide the district until June 30.
Robert Borman, also a retired school administrator, previously held the interim job, starting on Sept. 11, 2018.
“Dr. Borman ran out of hours,” Holdinghausen said.
“D.J. Goodwin is interim superintendent. He’s got plenty of hours to run the district (until Barnes takes over),” he said.
Holdinghausen said Borman could work a maximum of 550 hours during the school year under terms of his previous retirement, and Goodwin is in the same situation.
Goodwin is being paid $62 per hour, the same rate Borman was paid, Holdinghausen said.