Orr resigned last week under circumstances still largely unexplained by him or the school board that hired him.
Waiting on the school system’s bench was Hamilton Schools Business Director Larry Knapp, who most importantly had the titles of “superintendent” and “interim superintendent” on his resume.
Credit: DaytonDailyNews
Last week, after the Hamilton Board of Education accepted Orr’s resignation, board members announced at the same meeting that Knapp would continue as superintendent for the 10,000-student school system for the 2018-2019 school year.
“Because he was a superintendent at one time the board felt he would be the right person to put in that position,” said Board President Steve Isgro, when asked about the move.
“He brings 38 years of experience to this full-time role and has been in our district for the past three years,” said Isgro.
Knapp, who was Edgewood Schools superintendent from 2008 to 2010, later served as interim superintendent in Warren County’s Kings Schools.
Knapp, said Isgro, will help in preparing the next full-time superintendent — starting in the 2019-2020 school year — Michael Holbrook, assistant superintendent of instructional services.
Holbrook is also an education veteran, a former school principal and district-level curriculum administrator for Hamilton County’s Mount Healthy and Northwest school districts.
“Mr. Holbrook and his instructional staff have been very instrumental in overseeing the strides that have been made with the progress of our schools,” Isgro said. “We’re excited we can move on like this and not lose any steps.”
Under Orr’s leadership since he was hired in 2015 the district showed improvement in 18 of 23 academic areas measured by the annual state report card compiled by the Ohio Department of Education.
Knapp said he is glad to serve as a bridge leader for Hamilton Schools until Holbrook takes over after the 2018-2019 school year.
“Our whole direction with this process we have been going through is to keep the momentum going for all the good things we have going on here at Hamilton City Schools,” said Knapp, who will also continue to serve as the district’s business director through next school year.
“Our state test scores have gone up and I am very confident those scores are going to continue to climb again next year as well. Our whole push has been to continue the momentum that has been started here the last three years and keep that going,” said Knapp.
“We have a lot of dedicated individuals in our schools … we’ve been able to come together as a group and continue to keep things moving forward for the Hamilton community,” he said.
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