At Monday’s meeting of the board of directors for the Wood County Educational Service Center, Fred Susor,
the interim superintendent, updated the board on his actions to address some of the concerns which are
facing the organization.
Both he and the others who spoke are pleased with the progress being made.
Among those items, he sought and was given approval by the board to hire Joel Roscoe to perform a
"services audit," to fulfill the requirements of an agreement between the ESC and the county
school districts it serves.
Roscoe is the superintendent of Hillsdale Local Schools, based in Jeromesville, Ohio. Susor said he was
selected based on his first-hand knowledge of both local school districts and ESCs.
Susor told the board on Monday he has come into the office "trying to look at (the operation)
through a different set of eyes."
In meeting with the program directors, Susor says he has tried to ask the tough questions and admitted,
"it is a little unnerving for them."
He said he challenged the directors in various ways by questioning why, what if and why not, as to
various policies and procedures.
"I don’t want to turn the whole cart upside down, but just want to get the wheels adjusted so we can
move forward," Susor said.
Belinda Rhoads, special needs director, was one of those he has questioned.
"Fred has been wonderful to work with," Rhoads told the board despite her admission on some
matters they have had to agree to disagree.
"He’s asking the hard questions, but he’s doing a tremendous job as to what needs to be done,"
she added.
"I appreciate his outlook and his questioning," Rhoads said. "I am really optimistic if
(the ESC and its programs) can be salvaged, Fred is the man to do it."
Gina Fernbaugh, ESC treasurer and chief financial officer, echoed the praise.
"He has been wonderful to work with, at least on my part, we have had a very good working
relationship in just three weeks," Fernbaugh said.
In a previous interview with Susor, he said his goals are to look at efficiencies and programming with
the whole organization.
"When money gets tight, we want to still be providing the best services," Susor said. "The
ESC exists for member schools and we need to be working with them and determining their best interests,
then trying to meet those."
Kelly Van Order, a life skills teacher for the Wood County Educational Service Center’s living classroom,
spoke during the public participation portion of the meeting.
She stated her purpose in questioning various aspects of the meetings was not to intrude but rather share
her perspective as a staff member in order to "help fireproof the ESC."