BELLVILLE — Cody Reese is trading purple for green.
The principal of East Knox Junior and Senior High School will be the next superintendent of Clear Fork Valley Local Schools.
The Clear Fork school board voted 5-0 to hire Reese at Tuesday night’s meeting. His start date is Aug. 1.
“Clear Fork has always been an attractive community. They always have a lot of community support for the schools, for the students,” Reese said.
“There’s a lot of school pride there and they also have an excellent educational foundation. So as an outsider looking in, you could always see that good things were happening there and it’s something that others want to be a part of.”
Thirteen people applied for the position, currently held by interim superintendent John Thomas.
Board president Brian Johnson said the board spoke with five candidates during the first round of interviews before narrowing the pool to three candidates.
“We felt (Reese) was the most qualified with that experience to help us continue moving in the right direction,” Johnson said.
“There weren’t any candidates that had prior superintendent experience, but Cody has quite a few years at the administrative level. He’s been a football coach and he’s been a teacher.
“So he has a very broad background in what we were looking for as far as someone who knows how to deal with the public, the teachers, the union.”
Prioritizing transparency, building on Clear Fork’s ‘fantastic foundation’
Reese is a graduate of East Knox High School and has worked as an administrator in the district for the last decade.
From 2015 to 2021, he was the principal of East Knox Elementary. He spent five years as the district’s head football coach.
He described leaving his hometown district as “bittersweet.”
“I will definitely miss the people and the relationships that I built, but I’m very much looking forward to the opportunity that the community and the board has entrusted me to carry forward,” he said.
Reese holds a master’s degree in education administration and a bachelor’s in middle school education.
He described his leadership style as highly collaborative.
“All the decisions that we make to need to be made on the premise of what’s best for our students and our district,” he said. “I like to get a lot of perspectives and as many points of view as I can as we make those decisions.”
Reese said his primary goals are getting to know the community and maximize the district’s strengths.
“I want to be transparent. I want to be open. I want to be seen,” he said.
“Clear Fork has a fantastic foundation. I want to work with them to help build off past traditions and improve the great things that they already have there.”
Johnson expressed gratitude to all the people who applied for the opening.
“This type of decision is never easy because each candidate has their strengths and weaknesses,” Johnson said. “You just have to sort through and think about who’s going to be the best fit for the Valley.”