LONE WEST – On Monday night the Board of Trustees for the Boyd School District voted 7-0 to name high school principal Ted West as the lone finalist for the superintendent position. Messenger photo by Joe Duty

The Boyd School Board Monday named Ted West as lone finalist for the superintendent position.

West, Boyd High School principal, has served as co-interim superintendent along with curriculum director Barbara Stice.

Stice and West were both interviewed for a final time in closed session Monday before the board made its choice. The board voted unanimously for West.

“It’s a big honor,” West said. “The board felt I was the right choice for the district, and I appreciate them giving me this chance.”

West has worked as an administrator with the district for five years. He was the high school principal. Then he served as assistant superintendent before going back to high school principal.

He said his first priority was improving the academic ratings and performance of the district.

“Our state performance is the first thing I want to address,” West said. “It is priority No. 1.

“We’ve done a lot of work in the past few years on our facilities and infrastructure. Now we need to focus on performance.

“It’s our job to have all our students performing at a higher level,” he added. “To have all of them reaching their potential.”

The board had narrowed the pool of candidates to West and Stice.

Board President Pam Galloway said the district was fortunate to have two quality candidates in-house.

“We had two very good people to choose from,” Galloway said. “It was a decision I wrestled with. We couldn’t have gone wrong with either one. We had some really good applicants.”

West is the second superintendent the board has hired in-house. The last superintendent, John Emshoff, was high school principal before being appointed to the superintendent position almost two years ago. West will also be the fourth superintendent the district has hired in the past seven years.

Galloway is looking forward to some stability in the position.

“I frankly want to see our district heal,” she said. “There’s been some unhappiness in the last few years. I think it is time for everyone here, staff and administration, to work together.”

By law, the board must wait 21 days, which is Sept. 10, before West can become superintendent. In the meantime, Stice and West will continue to serve as co-interim superintendents.

The board will now have to fill the high school principal slot. No decision has been made on that yet.