New superintendent says he is excited to be coming to Hays

By CRISTINA JANNEY

Hays Post

The new Hays USD 489 superintendent, Ron Wilson, said he was excited to be coming to Hays.

The Hays school board voted unanimously Monday night to approve a two-year contract with Wilson, who is currently serving as the Herington superintendent.

The district interviewed four candidates for the position. They also included Keith Hall, Hays interim director of finance; Jamie Wetig, Ashland superintendent; and Mike Gower, Logan and Philipsburg superintendent.

“I think it is a great opportunity,” he said of the job in Hays. “I would tell you the first thing I am looking forward to is getting an opportunity to meet the people who are in the district and in the community.”

He said he was overly impressed with the people he met when he toured the district last week, adding they are already doing great things in the district.

“I am a big believer it is all about people who make our schools the best they can be,” Wilson said.

He said he hopes to have conversations with people in the district and then determine his priorities for the district.

Wilson said of the school board, “I think you have a very committed board who is wanting to provide the best opportunities for the students in the community and serve in a very efficient and responsible way. I felt a really good sense of camaraderie with the board in the sense of being able to talk about issues and things they have been addressing in the district over the past few years. I feel really strongly that it will be a great relationship.”

Wilson continued, “I am just super excited to get into the district and look at all aspects of what is going on and how effectively we can continue some of the great things that are happening as well address some things that perhaps we need to look at.”

Wilson, 53, has been the superintendent in Herington for two years. He was the Abilene Middle School principal for 18 years and also served as a K-8 principal at North Ottawa County. He won the Kansas Association of Secondary School Principals Principal of the Year Award in 2006 and the Kansas Association of Middle School Administrators Principal of the Year Award in 2015.

He received his undergraduate degree at Bethany College and master’s degree and superintendent certification from Kansas State University. He said he made the move to becoming a superintendent later in life, because he wanted to wait until his youngest child graduated high school before moving the family. A job in Hays would move Wilson closer to his aging mother-in-law in Colorado.

Wilson will be moving to Hays with his wife, AJ. The couple has one adult daughter and two adult sons. One son is a senior at Fort Hays State University, and the other son will be enrolling at K-State. Their daughter lives and works in the Kansas City area.