The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
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Graden named superintendent of schools
Board's decision unanimous
By Brian Cox, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: March 13, 2008
Three years ago, Scot Graden was named Saline Citizen of the Year.
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Last month, he was named the recipient of the George A. Anderson Vision Award.
Last week, he was named the Saline Area School District's new superintendent.
The school board selected Graden for the post March 5 immediately following the completion of its final interview of five candidates. Graden had been serving as interim superintendent after the board placed former superintendent Beverley Geltner on paid administrative leave in October pending an investigation into a series of allegations.
The board's decision to hire Graden came quickly Wednesday night after each board member ranked the five candidates in order of preference. Graden was the top choice of all seven board members.
Michael Emlaw, the Michigan Association of School Boards consultant who guided the board through the selection process, suggested that second interviews and possible site visits to the candidates' districts would be unproductive.
The board's announcement drew resounding applause from the more than 50 residents and district employees in attendance.
Former board member Tim Chaffee praised the board for an "outstanding job" and for moving "quickly and accurately."
Trustee Kim Van Hoek said she supported the decision to conduct an outside search despite Graden being a strong internal candidate.
"Scot had an advantage coming into this process because we all know him," she said. "He was born and bred in Saline."
Even so, she said, "In my opinion, he needed to sell us on his candidacy."
Van Hoek said she has been impressed with Graden's performance as interim superintendent the past five months.
"He is a man of integrity and good thinking processes," she said. "I believe we know what Scot has done and can continue to do. He's proven himself as superintendent."
Trustee David Friese, too, was impressed with Graden's performance as interim superintendent.
"The past five months he's stepped up to the plate and he should be rewarded for that," Friese said.
Over three nights last week, the school board interviewed five candidates: Brian Metcalf, assistant superintendent for human resources and instruction for Marshall Public Schools; Robert Glass, executive director of instruction for Birmingham Public Schools; George Przygodski, deputy superintendent for human resources and operations for the Avondale School District; Catherine Ash, deputy superintendent for Okemos Public Schools, who was interviewed Wednesday night; and Graden.
Among the five candidates, Graden, who has been with the district for 13 years, was the only one without a background in teaching, but that lack of experience in the classroom didn't detract from his candidacy, said School Board President Lisa Slawson.
"If there's one thing I've learned in the past year, it's that just because someone is the best qualified person on paper, it doesn't mean they will bring the best kind of change to your community," she said.
A 1989 graduate of Saline High School, Graden joined the Parks and Recreation Department as a recreation coordinator in 1993 after earning a bachelor's degree in community recreation from Central Michigan University. Two years later, he joined Community Education as a recreation and enrichment specialist, eventually becoming the department's director in 2001.
Graden adopted numerous roles in the community, including serving on the Saline Area Chamber of Commerce's board of directors, facilitating the school district's Long-Range Planning Committee, and chairing the CARES Advisory Board and the Saline Area Schools Historical Preservation Committee.
Graden and his wife, Pilar, have three children, Jay, Adrian and Samantha.
Graden was present last Wednesday night in the Saline Middle School, where the interviews were conducted, and was called into the media center after the board voted to offer him a contract.
"Mr. Graden," said Slawson, "we'd like to offer you a job."
"I'd like to accept the job," said Graden. "I look forward to serving this district for a very, very long time."
Graden said shedding the qualifier of "interim" from his title will now allow him to pursue with greater focus and intensity a range of issues confronting the district.
"One of the things that will be different is that I will be able to be more open about certain things I've been looking and thinking about," he said. "As interim, I didn't want to be presumptive."
At the top of his list of priorities is deciding how to fill a number of positions he currently holds, including director of community education and principal of the alternative high school. Any plan to do that would have to be "budget neutral," he said.
Graden took the unanimous endorsement from the board as a sign of its confidence in him.
"These are people who have worked with me," he said. "To have that kind of support from the board after five months is important and I'm glad I've earned their respect."
Graden's selection appeared to have wide support from the community as well as district employees.
"I'm very pleased with the selection," said Tim Heim, president of the Saline Education Association. "The healing process has begun. I'm looking forward to working with him now and in the future."
"I want to compliment the board on making the right decision to choose the absolutely best possible person for this position," said Saline resident Perry Kantner.
The board's next step is to negotiate a contract with Graden, which is expected to take place near the end of the month.
Staff Writer Brian Cox can be reached at 429-7380 or bcox@heritage.com.
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