AUSTINTOWN — The Austintown Board of Education will hold a special meeting 10:30 a.m. today and are expected to hire a new superintendent.

The meeting will begin with an executive session. The only other item on the agenda is nominations for the position.

Three individuals were interviewed during a special meeting Tuesday, but no action was taken. The finalists are Timothy Kelty, Holly Welch and Jeffrey Hartmann, according to public relations specialist Brittany Morell.

• Kelty is head principal at Austintown Fitch High School. The board unanimously appointed him assistant superintendent at its February meeting. At the time, board president Don Sherwood said it was done to aid with the transition as current Superintendent David Cappuzzello is set to retire at the end of the school year.

Kelty has retained his duties as head principal and does not receive additional pay for the additional position. The district did not have an assistant superintendent before Kelty was appointed, but it had under Cappuzzello’s predecessor.

During his time in the district, he has served as the head principal at Woodside Elementary School, assistant principal at Austintown Intermediate School and both assistant and head principal at Austintown Elementary School. He is in his fourth year as the head principal at Fitch High School. He also has coached football and baseball, and had a hand in the creation of the AFHS Athletic Hall of Fame.

Kelty is also a decorated veteran of Operation Desert Storm.

• Welch is assistant principal at Austintown Elementary School. Before that, she had a long career at Youngstown City Schools, where she served as the assistant principal at Kirkmere Elementary School and curriculum supervisor.

She also earned a Master of Science in Education from Youngstown State University.

• Hartmann is the principal at Stow-Munroe Falls High School in Summit County. He has been in the position since 2015.

Before that, he was the principal for two years at Pottstown High School in Pottstown, Pa., then an adjunct professor for more than seven years at Immaculata University in Immaculata, Pa.

He earned a master’s degree and a doctorate in school leadership and education policy from the University of Pittsburgh.

Hartmann is also a founding member of Akron Area Narcotics Overdose Prevention and Education.

Cappuzzello replaced Stan Watson in 2019, who was then serving as interim superintendent after the retirement of Vince Colaluca, who headed the district for 10 years. Cappuzzello was chosen unanimously from 17 applicants.

At the same November meeting that the board accepted Cappuzzello’s retirement, it also accepted the retirement of Annette Grahovac, administrative assistant to the superintendent, effective Jan. 1. Sherwood said once a new superintendent is chosen, that person will have a hand in choosing his or her assistant, if they choose to have one.

escott@tribtoday.com