By Sue Kiesewetter
Enquirer contributor

ROSS TWP. - Todd Yohey is coming to the Ross Local Schools for more than a job.

The 40-year-old new superintendent said he's coming for the community, which is similar to what he is leaving. He's been assistant superintendent the past four years at St. Marys City Schools, about 60 miles north of Dayton.

"My family and I did a lot of research on the (Ross) district. We liked what we saw - community support, community pride," Yohey said Monday. "We liked the family values and morals. (My wife and I) thought it was a place we'd like to continue raising our family in."

Yohey officially becomes superintendent July 1 but will be in Ross today. He is replacing David McWilliams, who is retiring after 35 years in education, the last 10 as Ross' superintendent.

Yohey has been given a two-year contract by the Ross Board of Education and was selected from more than two dozen applicants. He will earn $90,500 annually.

"The board felt it was trying to put together a team," school board President Ed Bosse said. "We thought Mr. Yohey was the best person to add to our team."

Yohey says his wife, Cathy, and three daughters - a freshman, seventh-grader and third-grader - will move into the district this summer.

"I have a strong philosophy that the superintendent should live within the district," Yohey said. "I know I'll have big shoes to fill with Dr. McWilliams leaving."

Besides his work as assistant superintendent, Yohey has spent the past 10 years as an adjunct professor at Wright State University's Celina campus. There he has taught science and education courses.

Before being named assistant superintendent in 2000, Yohey spent three years as an elementary principal in the St. Marys Schools and one year in the same role in the Van Wert Schools, where he also taught high school chemistry.

St. Marys Schools have an enrollment of 2,500 students who attend classes in six buildings. Ross, in western Butler County, has 2,600 students in four schools.