The Rockwood School District has hired a new superintendent – Mark T. Miles, currently the superintendent at Indian Hill Exempted Village School District in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Miles, 47, will replace Eric Knost, who is retiring from the Rockwood district, effective June 30.
Miles, one of the 24 applicants for the top job at Rockwood, will start on July, 1. He will be paid a $225,000 annual salary, plus benefits.
Knost is being paid $256,790.85 this school year.
Miles is originally from Missouri and earned a doctorate in philosophy in education leadership and policy analysis at the University of Missouri in Columbia.
The Rockwood Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday evening (Feb. 7) to hire Miles for the job.
School board president Loralee Mondl said Miles’ Missouri roots did not factor into his selection. What did play a role, she said, was his focus on students and his experience.
“First and foremost, he talked about kids a lot,” Mondl said. “He has a proven track record; he’s been a sitting superintendent for the last seven years. His community loves him, he is very active on social media and he is very involved in the schools.”
Mondl said it was important to the board to have a unanimous vote for the hire.
“We had two fantastic finalists,” she said.
In a letter to the district, Miles said he is looking forward to fulfilling the district mission.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to lead and serve the Rockwood School District,” he wrote. “You can count on me to work hard, listen and collaborate with others.”
A meet-and-greet with Miles is being planned for sometime in March.
Miles started his career in education in 1995, first as a social studies teacher at Smithton Middle School and West Junior High School, which are both part of the Columbia Public Schools system, and in 1999, he moved up to administrative assistant for the system’s Oakland Junior High School. From 2000 to 2002, he worked as a graduate research assistant at the University of Missouri in Columbia.
In 2002, he took a principal position with Park Hill School District in the Kansas City area, and he moved up the ranks there, becoming deputy superintendent in 2010, holding that job until 2012, when he became the superintendent for the Indian Hill Exempted Village School District.
In his time there, the Indian Hill Exempted Village School District was named the sixth best public school district in the nation by Niche, a website that rates colleges, schools, neighborhoods and businesses.
Consultant Brent Underwood of the Missouri School Boards’ Association, who was hired to facilitate Rockwood’s search for a superintendent, said the school board narrowed the applicants to five finalists but one candidate, Nisha Patel, dropped out when the Fox C-6 School District promoted her to the superintendent job there, replacing Jim Wipke who is leaving Fox at the end of the school year to take a job as superintendent at the Ladue School District.
The Rockwood eventually narrowed the field to two finalists, who were interviewed Feb. 1. Those finalists were also interviewed by a group of administrators, teachers, community members and parents.
Knost, who has led the district since 2014, announced in October his plans to retire. Last year he applied for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education commissioner job and did not get it.
Knost said he is a finalist for a few jobs in other states.
He also said he has a bit of regret “everyday” about his impending retirement from Rockwood.
“I say that somewhat in jest,” Knost said. “Of course, change is good, and again I am in a good position to retire from Missouri as an educator.”
Knost said he hopes Miles knows he is taking over a “gem.”
“It’s just a wonderful place with a lot of community support,” Knost said.
Underwood said the Rockwood school board was one of the best he’s work with.
“This board is operating at such a high level,” he said. “I would be hard pressed to come up with a board that has worked harder and been more on task and more focused.”
Miles and his wife, Rebekah, have three children: Leighton, Sydney and Natalie. Their son, Leighton, works as a small business consultant in Kansas. Sydney attends the University of Alabama, and Natalie is a senior at Indian Hill High School in Ohio.
Miles said when he is not working, he enjoys spending time with his family and working out. He walks and runs at least 50 miles a month, and last July he biked 110 miles.