Fairview Schools name new superintendent
By Kevin Kelley
Fairview Park
Published July 6, 2005

Brion Deitsch

Brion Deitsch, current superintendent of the Edgerton Local School District in northwestern Ohio, was unanimously voted Friday by the Fairview Park Board of Education to be the district's new superintendent. Deitch, 46, begins his duties Aug. 1. He succeeds Nylajean McDaniel who resigned March 1.

"This is an exciting time for Fairview Park and an exciting time for my family," said Deitsch, who made his first appearance as the superintendent-designate at the Gilles-Sweet School open house Saturday.

Deitsch, 46, said he wants to be seen as approachable by school employees and residents.

"What I will do a lot of is listen," said Deitsch, who with his wife, Carol, has a son and daughter, both in college.

"I want to listen to the staff and community. I want to hear the good and the not-so-good."

Deitsch said the proximity of Fairview Park to family members in the Akron and Cleveland areas was what initially attracted him to the job. He also liked what he heard about the $ 50 million Gemini Project between the city and the school district.

Board President Tom Davis said three factors won Deitsch the job. First, Davis said, was his overwhelming enthusiasm for public education. Second was his desire to exceed state educational standards. "That's a step that we clearly need to be ready to take," Davis said. Third was his extraordinary level of community involvement.

"I think he's going to be a real leader," said Board Vice President Lorri Marginian. "He's here right at the time we need him when we have all this going on with (the Gemini Project)."

Marginian also described Deitsch as a visionary who can make tough decisions.

The board wants Deitsch to develop strong relationships with school employees throughout the district, Davis said.

"His personality is such that I think he will do that and do it very quickly," Davis said. "He's a very outgoing individual and doesn't wait for people to come see him. He'll go form those relationships once he gets here. And I think he'll form a pretty solid relationship with the students, too. And that's not necessarily typical for a superintendent to be known by all the students in the district. But he will definitely make himself known in the buildings."

Davis noted a new high school was recently built in Deitsch's district, giving the new superintendent important experience coming into a district with plans to build a new elementary school and make extensive renovations to the middle school and high school.

"He's very familiar with building projects," Davis said.

BOARD APPOINTMENT: The Fairview Park Board of Education on June 27 appointed Joseph F. Shucofsky to fill the board seat left vacant by the resignation of Thomas M. Faska, who resigned his seat to pursue an administrative position within the Fairview Park City School District. Faska originally filled the vacancy left by the sudden death of Maureen Cundiff last December.

Shucofsky will serve in the board position until Jan. 1, 2006. The next board election will be held in November 2005 and will require a special election to fill the remaining two years of Cundiff's unexpired term.

Shucofsky is an attorney in private practice. He earned his law degree from Case Western Reserve University and serves in the Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court Guardian Ad Litem Project (for children), Adult Guardianship Services as a volunteer attorney, and is a court-appointed guardian for disabled veterans.