Clear Creek Amana schools have three finalists for superintendent. Here's how you can meet them.
Three final candidates in the search for the next superintendent of Clear Creek Amana schools — Brett Bunch, Corey Seymour and Matthew Strom — will participate in question-and-answer sessions moderated by search firm Ray & Associates in the next week.
The sessions are open to the public. They will be held at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and next Monday at the high school performing arts center. The meetings will also be accessible via Zoom.
The permanent administrator for the Clear Creek Amana Community School District will relieve Joseph Brown Sr., who took over as interim in August. He is filling in for Tim Kuehl, who spent eight years with CCA before taking a superintendent position elsewhere in Iowa.
The next superintendent will be tasked with addressing the CCA district's rapidly growing enrollment that, without expansions, is projected to overfill current school buildings. School administrators will take on that challenge alongside a school board that saw two incumbents unseated in 2021, bringing in four new members of the seven total.
The district serves about 2,800 students, 700 more than in 2015. The district enrollment is expected to reach more than 4,000 over the next five years, according to a recent analysis by RSP & Associates.
Community members wishing to access the Q&A sessions online can find details at: https://www.ccaschools.org/Page/5121.
Brett Bunch
Bunch has worked as superintendent of the Newport (Arkansas) School District since July 2019, serving about 1,100 students. He previously worked as superintendent of the Magazine School District in Arkansas. He has also worked as a high school principal and teacher.
Bunch holds a bachelor's degree in communications and marketing from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He also has two degrees from Arkansas State University: master's and specialist degrees of educational leadership and administration. He is pursuing a doctorate in educational administration.
Before his career in education, Bunch worked as a TV news anchor. He also worked for two decades as a "business executive," according to a news release.
"His career in education reflects a continued focus on improving equity and cultural proficiency, implementing diversity mindfulness practices, college and career readiness, developing school leaders, and closing the achievement gap," according to information about the candidates on the CCA website.
Corey Seymour
Seymour has worked since 2020 as executive director of leadership with the Ector County Independent School District in Odessa, Texas. The district serves about 32,000 students.
He previously worked as area assistant superintendent for Portland Public Schools in Oregon and as superintendent for the Santa Gertrudis Independent School District in Kingsville, Texas. He also spent more than seven years as principal of the Cedar Hill High School in Texas.
Seymour holds a B.A. from Rice University, a M.A. in higher education administration from Texas Southern University and a Ph.D. in industrial and organizational psychology from Walden University.
"His career in education reflects a continued focus on improving equity and cultural proficiency, implementing diversity mindfulness practices, college and career readiness, developing school leaders, and closing the achievement gap," according to the CCA webpage.
Matthew Strom
Strom has worked since 2019 as an administrator in the Queen Creek (Arizona) Unified School District, most recently as chief operating officer. The district serves about 12,000 students.
Before that, he worked as assistant superintendent of K-12 educational services in the Chandler United School District, also in Arizona. He worked in the Chandler district for 17 years, according to reporting by the Daily Independent.
Strom holds a Ed.D. from Northern Arizona University. He grew up in Ogden, Iowa.
"His facilitative leadership works to maximize opportunities for children so they are able to capitalize on their talents and passions," according to the CCA webpage. "(Strom) also firmly believes that education systems should focus on helping children learn the skills of interdependence in order to realize the complexity of the learning process and the importance of critical thinking across multiple content areas."
Cleo Krejci covers education for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. You can reach her at ckrejci@press-citizen.com.
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Clear Creek Amana superintendent finalists will have public forums
