Ridgely named new superintendent at EU

AFTON — The search has ended.

Lance Ridgely, curriculum director at Clarke Community Schools in Osceola, accepted the position of East Union Community School District superintendent Tuesday night, bringing an end to a superintendent search process that began in late April.

On July 1, Ridgely will step into the position held since 2008 by current superintendent Pam Vogel, whose last official day will be June 30.

The East Union School Board made the decision during a work session Tuesday, in which it discussed the three finalists for the position with the superintendent search firm Leadership Associates.

Mark Weis, EU high school principal, who had input in the search process along with elementary principal Joan Gordon and early childhood director Hope Hall, said the team all agreed Ridgely was the right person for the job.

“He’s a very personable individual. He basically has a plan in place of what he would do in the first 90 days,” Weis said. “I think he was a candidate that everyone all the way around felt was a good fit for East Union.”

Board president Brett Weis said Ridgely’s academic experience and his community-mindedness were major qualities the board was looking for.

“He definitely wants to get to know the community,” he said. “He wants to get to know the kids and parents. He’s made it clear that he wants to be in the community to get to know everybody and be around a lot.”

Brett Weis said he was impressed at how smoothly the superintendent search went.

“Leadership Associates did an excellent job as far as helping us out and taking us through the process,” he said. “This was my first superintendent search, but we had two others on the board that had been on it before, and they were impressed.”

At 10:37 p.m. Tuesday, Ridgely tweeted, “Excited to be given the chance to serve the East Union Schools as Superintendent! Looking forward to getting to work, #GoEagles.”

The Creston News Advertiser was unable to reach Ridgely for comment prior to Wednesday’s deadline.