BULLHEAD CITY – The Colorado River Union High School District governing board has unanimously chosen Arizona Department of Education (ADE) program specialist Todd Flora as its new superintendent. The late-night vote Tuesday followed almost four hours of a third round of candidate interviews and discussion.
Flora and Kimball, South Dakota, Public Schools superintendent Tim Mayclin were the two finalists. Both have had multiple interviews with the CRUHSD board, as well as numerous community stakeholder forums, roundtable discussions with community leaders, and campus and community tours over two days.
Officially, the board’s motion was to enter negotiations with Flora to start on or before July 1, when Superintendent Benje Hookstra retires.
Board president Lori Crampton called it “a very difficult decision because we had two excellent candidates.” She thanked community members who participated in the various forums and left comments for the board to consider.
“We appreciate the time, energy and effort of the community, and are grateful for the process and input guided by the Arizona School Boards Association (ASBA),” she noted. Earlier this year, CRUHSD contracted with ASBA for recruiting and vetting assistance. There were originally 12 applicants; six semi-finalists were invited for interviews and five participated. Flora and Mayclin returned this week for final interviews and public input.
Based in Flagstaff, Flora currently provides technical assistance, program monitoring and support to school districts and charter schools for ADE’s exceptional student services division. He previously served the Governor of New Jersey as Executive County Superintendent of Schools. During his more than 21 years in education, he also served as a director of special education, federal grants coordinator, and Title One coordinator (a federal program that provides financial assistance to schools with high numbers or high percentages of poor children).
Flora’s classroom experience includes teaching economics, social studies and history, as well as serving as a graduate adjunct professor and graduate administrative intern advisor. He earned a Master’s of Education degree in secondary education and an education specialist degree in education administration policy and law. He holds superintendent certificates in both Arizona and New Jersey, as well as a school business administrator’s certificate.
CRUHSD currently has three campuses with more than 1,800 students: River Valley High School in Mohave Valley, Mohave High School in Bullhead City, and the non-traditional CRUHSD Academy, also in Bullhead City. The District stretches from northwest of Kingman along the Colorado River and Lake Mohave to just north of Lake Havasu City.
