Centennial Schools Superintendent A Finalist For Colorado Job

WARMINSTER, PA — Centennial School District Superintendent David Baugh — Pennsylvania's current Superintendent of the Year — is a finalist for a similar job in Colorado.

The school board of the Aspen School District, in Aspen, Colorado, has announced that Baugh is one of four finalists for the superintendent's job there.

Baugh is the only finalist for the job not currently working in Colorado. He was one of 24 qualified candidates interviewed and screened as part of a national search and one of eight selected for a first round of interviews.

He and the other three candidates are scheduled to take part in public interviews and a community meet-and-greet on Monday and Tuesday, March 2-3, in Aspen.

"The board is gratified by the exceptional quality and proven leadership track record of our finalist candidates," said Susan Marolt, president of the Aspen school board. "The finalists understand the unique challenges and opportunities of our community, particularly as we prepare for the future."

If Baugh were to leave the Warminster-based Centennial School District, it would cause a significant bit of upheaval at the system's upper levels.

Assistant Superintendent Jennifer Polinchock will leave the district on July 1 to become the new superintendent of Lewisburg Area School District in Union County. That district's school board voted to hire her Thursday.

Both moves come amid mounting tensions on Centennial's school board, which had a Republican majority before November's elections, which put Democrats in control by a 5-4 margin. Some Republican members have faulted the board's new majority for pushing Baugh and Polinchock to leave, though, in both cases, their applications likely would have needed to be submitted well before the new board took office in January.

It's also not the first time Baugh has been in the running for a job out west.

Last April, Baugh was named one of three finalists for the superintendent's job with Missoula County Public Schools in Missoula, Montana. Ultimately, Baugh withdrew his name from consideration shortly before the school board there began deliberations on a final decision.