FRANKLIN — After a three-year absence, Kim Gray is returning to the Franklin City Schools — this time as superintendent.

        Mrs. Gray, a 1974 graduate of Franklin High School, was given a three-year contract Monday by the Franklin Board of Education and will earn $95,000 annually.

        She begins work Aug. 1.

        “There's a level of comfort and at the same time a level of fear and trepidation that comes with any new job,” said Mrs. Gray, of Clearcreek Township. “The support staff here (in the central office) is awesome. I think I'm in good hands.”

        Mrs. Gray spent four years as principal at Franklin Junior High School before leaving in 1999 to become principal at Kettering Middle School.

        She has also worked as a unit principal at Kettering Middle School, a curriculum director for the Middletown Schools and as a science teacher and then assistant principal at Lemon-Monroe High School.

        Kettering is a district of 8,700 students; Franklin has 3,500 students.

        “We're real excited,” said Sherrie Myers, president of the Franklin Board of Education. “She's going to bring some stability to the district. She's insightful and knows the district.”

        Her hiring ends a 13-month search for a new superintendent. Last October the board declined to hire any of the candidates who applied to replace Dinzle Brown.

        Earlier this month, the board offered the superintendent's position to Douglas Male, retiring superintendent of Miami Trace Local Schools in Washington Court House, but he declined the offer.

        Interim Superintendent Bill Wood has served since June 2001, but did not apply for the permanent position.

        Mrs. Gray holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Miami University. She is married and has one daughter.

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