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Hayden — The Hayden School District has chosen Tennessee principal Greg Rockhold to replace retiring Superintendent Mike Luppes.

The School Board announced its decision Thursday morning after finalizing it during a lengthy executive session Wednesday night.

Rockhold is principal of E.W. Grove High School in Paris, Tenn., which serves only ninth-graders. Paris is a town of about 10,000 people in the northwestern part of the state, near the Kentucky border.

"Greg definitely was our strongest candidate," School Board President Brian Hoza said. "He had a nice scope of experience at a number of places, supervising buildings on all levels. He was familiar with a variety of programs and had strong references who verified his ability to communicate with all constituencies."

Rockhold's two-year contract begins July 1, and his salary will be $82,000 a year. Hoza said he is a good fit for the district of about 450 students.

"He's very open and easy to get to know," Hoza said. "He's sincerely interested in becoming a part of the community and is appreciative of the values that we find are not unique but are certainly special to Hayden."

In his career in education, Rockhold has has been a teacher, an adjunct professor and an assistant principal. He also served in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Rockhold was educated in New Mexico, earning his bachelor's and master's degrees from Eastern New Mexico University in Portales. He has submitted his doctoral dissertation in educational leadership to Trinity Southwest University in Albuquerque, according to his resume.

"I would just say that we've been fortunate to have the support of our current superintendent and our staff to conduct the search in-house and that we've been able to find such a strong candidate that is a good fit for our district," Hoza said.

He said the other candidates also were qualified, but that Rockhold was the best fit for Hayden as it faces the challenges of growth and financial management.

"We're really excited about Greg Rockhold and what he can bring us," Hoza said.

The other finalists for the superintendent position were Hayden High School Principal Troy Zabel and Deborah Arrowsmith, a professor at Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio.

Also at Wednesday's meeting:

- The board discussed the progress of the high school's vocational education program and how to promote and raise funds for it.

- The board heard from Luppes about $127,000 in grant money the district expects to get to build a sidewalk on a path between the high school and middle school.

- The board gave Zabel the OK to investigate using an outside publisher for the high school yearbook, which currently is published in-house. Zabel said using an outside publisher could save almost $20 a book.

- Zabel sought the board's go-ahead on changes to Hayden High School classes and registration procedures.

- The board approved the calendar for the 2008-09 school year.

- To reach Blythe Terrell, call 871-4234

or e-mail bterrell@steamboatpilot.com