A memorable moment during Superintendent Guy Parmigian’s 11-year tenure at the Benton-Carroll-Salem School District was last year’s groundbreaking for a new $13 million Oak Harbor Intermediate School. Handling the shovels in July, 2022 were, left to right, board members Kim Dusseau and Jamie Tooman, Supt. Parmigian, board members Steve Rhodes and Jeff Dornbusch, and Treasurer Cajon Keeton. (Photo by John Schaffner)

BY D’ARCY PATRICK EGAN

Superintendent Guy Parmigian will be leaving the Benton-Carroll-Salem School District to teach in the Department of Educational Leadership at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Following a very difficult, but extremely productive decade as superintendent of the Benton-Carroll-Salem School District in Oak Harbor, Supt. Guy Parmigian will return to his alma mater in July as a professor at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

“I received my Doctor in Education from Miami University in 2006, which is a terminal degree for those who want to be educational leaders,” said Parmigian, 46. “It’s a rather broad term for colleges and universities, and can lead to a whole host of academic careers.”

Miami University has been referred to as the Ivy league of the Midwest, and identified in the title of the 1985 book by Richard Moll, “The Public Ivys: A Guide to America’s Best Public Undergraduate Colleges and Universities.” Moll’s book identified eight national universities that meet the criteria, topped by Miami University.

“It has been one of the greatest honors and privileges of my life to have served as superintendent of the B-C-S School District,” he said, expressing heartfelt gratitude to the Board of Education for their steadfast support and guidance over the past 11 years.

Parmigian pointed out that academic executives who want to be leaders generally move on once in a while, which he had resisted. He had accepted a position with Madonna College in Livonia. Mich., in early 2020, but realized there was still critical work to be done in Oak Harbor.

“The average tenure for a superintendent is three to four years, but I was an outlier, staying for 11 years. The chance to return to Miami University, a beautiful college in a wonderful setting in southern Ohio that I loved, was very special,” said Parmigian.

Parmigian is very proud of what he and his staff have accomplished with the B-C-S School District over his 11 years, especially breaking ground last year for a new $13 million Middle School. It will help to maintain the school district’s reputation as one of the top schools in Ohio and its continuation as an athletic powerhouse.

The school district also weathered the storm of a devaluation of the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Plant, threatening 40 percent of the school’s revenue base amid a state political scandal. In a surprise move recently, an Irving, Texas-based company, has approved a deal to buy Davis-Besse and another northern Ohio nuclear plant for $3.4 billion, and invest in hydrogen power.

“Ottawa County is a very attractive place to live, and will attract great candidates for the superintendent’s job,” he said. “There is a diversity and energy here, and the people work so well together, from the government agencies to the many businesses.

“It will be difficult to leave our great academic staff, the athletic teams I’ve been supporting for years, and our beloved Cleveland Browns,” he said, with a laugh.