Cardinal narrows superintendent search to three

Ottumwa Courier, Iowa
·2 min read

Mar. 14—ELDON — The Cardinal Community School District has narrowed its superintendent search to three candidates to replace outgoing superintendent Joel Pedersen.

Steve Noble, Gary Benda or James Craig will take over at the school's top leader July 1, as Pedersen is leaving to become the executive director of Central Rivers AEA in Cedar Falls.

The finalists were winnowed from a field of 10 after interviews March 9. A short biography of each candidate:

Steve Noble

Noble is the current secondary school principal at Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont, where is in charge of curriculum development, system integrity, teacher evaluation and professional development planning for grades 7-12. Nobel holds a masters in public administration from the University of Michigan-Flint and has completed the superintendency advanced studies certificate program at the University of Northern Iowa. His prior experience includes serving at principal at Ubly Junior-Senior High School in Ubly, Michigan.

Gary Benda

Benda serves as a shared superintendent of Starmont and West Central school districts in northeast Iowa. In his role, he has developed and implemented in-service training to district staff in positive behavior intervention and supports, professional learning communities and gradual release of responsibility practices. Benda started his administrative career in the Keokuk Community School District, serving as the high school associate principal and middle school principal. He is currently pursuing a Ed.D from UNI, to be completed this summer.

James Craig

Craig currently serves as superintendent at Sibley-Ocheyedan Community School district in northwest Iowa, where he has revamped the salary schedule to retain staff, led multiple facility improvement and facilitated a model to help special education students address achievement gaps. He also serves as vice president of the Northwest Region of the School Administrators of Iowa and is a member of the organization's representative council. He was previously the principal and 504 coordinator at Southwest Valley High School in Corning.

Cardinal's school board has worked with Grundmeyer Leader Services to conduct the search. Board and stakeholder teams will conduct final interviews with each candidate March 23, with a decision expected soon after.

Pedersen has served in his capacity since 2010, and was named Iowa Superintendent of the Year in 2019. The school district has been one of the fastest-growing districts in the last decade.