Lakota School Board appoints interim superintendent
CINCINNATI (Enquirer) - The Lakota Local Schools Board of Education appointed Assistant Superintendent Robb Vogelmann as interim superintendent during a special meeting Thursday evening.
The board unanimously voted to accept Superintendent Matt Miller’s resignation and approve Vogelmann’s new position after spending more than three hours in executive session.
“I am very grateful for your trust in me and your belief in me,” Vogelmann said to the school board on Thursday. “This will complete my 26th year here in Lakota, once we get to the end of the school year. It’s an honor and privilege to serve this community and I look forward to the challenge ahead.”
In an interview Thursday night with FOX19, Vogelmann said the district needs “some stability” right now. “I think there’s just a desire for things to just be calm for a while.”
Vogelmann’s tenure as interim superintendent will begin Feb. 1.
“I look forward to watching you soar in this role,” board member Julie Shaffer said.
Matt Miller announced his resignation on Wednesday after leading the district since 2017. He’s leaving at the end of this month to take a job with the Butler County Educational Service Center, as their new Coordinator of Innovative Education.
“I am incredibly proud of the work that our teachers, staff and administrators have accomplished since I arrived nearly six years ago,” Miller wrote in a Wednesday letter to the community. “In every building, our teachers and staff put our students first, from preschool to twelfth grade. Every. Single. Student.”
Miller mentioned nothing of the last year’s controversy, investigations into false allegations against him involving inappropriate sexual behavior, or attempts from board member Darbi Boddy and other community members to assassinate his character, as he’s previously claimed. Miller was vindicated for the second time in November after the school board hired a private investigator to look into the false claims.
On Thursday Boddy told Vogelmann: “I look forward to working with you and I will hold you accountable to your promise that the children and the community and the school and the teachers are really important to you and that is your first priority.”
Board president Lynda O’Connor read a statement Thursday that was approved by the rest of the board, thanking Miller for his six years of service to the district and providing more information about Vogelmann’s experience. Vogelmann has been with the district since 1997.
He’s served as a math teacher, assistant principal and principal before taking over the assistant superintendent position in 2012. He previously served as Lakota’s interim superintendent in 2017.
“We have much work to do and our focus as a board and as a district must be on doing what’s best for our students,” O’Connor said.
She said the school board will keep the community updated on its search for a permanent superintendent.
The board’s next regularly scheduled meeting is on Monday at 6:30 p.m. at Lakota Plains Junior School.
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