Zanesville hires new superintendent

ZANESVILLE – Doug Baker, assistant superintendent at New Philadelphia City Schools, was hired Wednesday as the new superintendent at Zanesville City Schools.

“I’m real excited,” he said.

Baker worked in Florida for 10 years as a business teacher, guidance counselor, football, wrestling and weightlifting coach. When he moved back to Ohio, he became principal of Dover High School and later superintendent of Marietta City Schools.

He moved to New Philadelphia to care for ill family members and has served there as assistant superintendent since 2009.

Baker was hired out of an initial pool of 31 applicants. His contract is for three years and his salary for each year will be $125,000. His start date is Aug. 1.

Current Superintendent Terry Martin had announced earlier that he would retire after this year.

Baker said his first priority would be to listen to fellow administrators, teachers and other school officials to learn what does work, what doesn’t work and what could work. At New Philadelphia, he helped implement Project Lead the Way, a K-12 STEM program.

“It may be a good fit (in Zanesville), I don’t know,” he said. “That goes back to listening to people.”

Baker said his proudest accomplishments, though, have been with students one-on-one, whether helping them graduate on time or choosing the best higher education program for them.

Scott Bunting, president of Zanesville School Board, said Baker stood out to them for having prior superintendent experience and for being well-acquainted with the eastern Ohio area.

“He’s got the knowledge to move the district forward,” Bunting said.

Doug Spade, current superintendent at New Philadelphia City Schools and former superintendent at Tri-Valley Local Schools, said he enjoyed working with Baker and he thought Baker would be a good fit for Zanesville.

“Nobody works harder than Doug Baker,” Spade said.

One of Baker’s primary projects at New Philadelphia was leading the curriculum rewriting process for the district’s elementary schools, Spade said. When a district has more than one elementary school that feed into one middle school and high school, the curriculum needs to be designed in such a way that every student, when they reach middle school, have the same educational foundation.

“I live in Muskingum County, and I’m neighbors with Zanesville,” Spade said. “Doug Baker is the kind of person I’d like to see moving into the county.”

ksnyder2@zanesvilletimesrecorder.com

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Twitter: @KL_Snyder