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TOMBSTONE — Tombstone Unified School District #1 will have a new superintendent beginning July 1. He is Karl Uterhardt, the current vice principal and director of special services for the St. David Unified District.
Uterhardt is a former superintendent of Valley Union High School District and a former Bisbee High School teacher and football coach.
His selection for Tombstone schools’ top spot came Tuesday, although contract details between Uterhardt and the district were not yet finalized early Wednesday afternoon.
In late March, the Tombstone governing board engaged the Arizona School Boards Association to conduct a search for a new superintendent to replace J. Ronald Hennings, whose contract was not renewed.
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Last Thursday, three finalists for the position appeared at a community forum moderated by John Gordon, ASBA’s leadership development director. Staff and citizens of the Tombstone district listened carefully as the candidates — two men and one woman — fielded a wide range of questions prior to their interviews with the board.
When the interviews and deliberations were over, board president Benjamin Barber said, “We looked at all the qualifications and picked the ones we thought were most germane to our district. (Uterhardt) has the special education experience, knowledge of grants, all the things we need for the future.”
Earlier in the year, the Tombstone board had investigated whether it could get along without a superintendent in an effort to save money.
Uterhardt, who lives in Bisbee, foresees no difficulty in getting the contract settled and said it is one of the few jobs he was interested in and the only one for which he applied.
“I’m enthusiastic and excited,” he said. “I’ve worked in different areas of schools … teacher, finance, principal, superintendent. I think Tombstone can be a great district.”
He said he has been successful in all his previous positions but realizes there are some hot-button issues in Tombstone, such as the junior high academy for seventh- and eighth-graders being developed for this fall.
“It’s hard to say what needs to happen,” he said. “I can’t comment right away. I need to be inside to make an evaluation.”
The academy is expected to be on the board’s meeting agenda for June 6, which Uterhardt said he hopes to attend.
Uterhardt is married and has five children. One of his children is out of school, one graduates from Valley Union High on Friday, and the other three attend Bisbee schools.
He worked only one year in St. David, a district with 490 students from pre-school through grade 12 on a two-acre campus. Both the elementary and high school are rated “highly performing” by the Arizona Department of Education.
The Tombstone district serves slightly more than 900 students at one high school and two elementary school locations, some 25 miles apart.
Huachuca City School was rated “underperforming” and is in the midst of a wide-ranging school improvement plan.
The Walter J. Meyer school is rated “performing,” while Tombstone High gets a “performing plus” on its state report card — which could be boosted to “highly performing” based on the school’s preliminary AIMS results.
Said outgoing superintendent Hennings, “Karl is a hard worker, and very, very bright. He has good people skills. He should be great for this district.”
CINDY SKALSKY can be reached at 515-4611 or by e-mail at cindy.skalsky@svherald.com.
