By Nathan Pilling
BEAVERCREEK — Paul Otten, current superintendent at Fairfield City Schools, was hired as the new superintendent of Beavercreek City Schools, Monday night.
Beavercreek’s board of education approved a four-year contract Monday, to begin July 1. Otten will be paid an annual salary of $160,900, according to his contract.
“I’m just so excited, ecstatic to become apart of an already great team,” Otten said. “I look forward to a long duration, long history here as well.”
Otten will come to what he classifies as a “premier school district” in Beavercreek after spending about 19 years in the Fairfield school district. His time there includes the last five years as the district’s superintendent, as its assistant superintendent between 2008 and 2011, and prior to that as a principal or teacher going back to 1997.
“It’s very difficult to make that move, but coming up here I can tell you it’s a great place,” Otten said. “I have enjoyed everybody who I’ve met, talked to. I’ve done my research on Beavercreek and to me, it just seems like it’s a great fit for me and my family.”
Otten received his bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Wittenberg University in 1994, and his master’s degree in educational administration from Xavier University in 1999, according to a release from Beavercreek schools.
Otten’s hire ends a search that began in December 2015 when Bill McGlothlin, the district’s current superintendent since 2012, announced he would retire effective June 30.
School board president Jo Ann Rigano had high praise for Otten and community stakeholders involved in the superintendent search process.
“His record supporting student achievement and his vision and foresight for our district made him an outstanding candidate,” she said. “His fit was perfect for our district.
“…He will bring this community together and that is very important,” she said. “He is going to be out there. People will know who this superintendent is.”