RONAN - Ronan School District No. 30 Superintendent Andy Holmlund announced Friday that Ryan Fisher is his recommendation to be the new high school vice principal beginning next school year. A special school board meeting was planned Wednesday morning to approve his hiring, but it occurred after press time.

Fisher currently teaches ninth and tenth grade English and was the head wrestling coach for five years. He stopped coaching this season to apply for the vice principal job.

The search came about once middle school principal Jim Gillhouse announced he would retire, effective at the end of this school year in June. Current high school vice principal Mark Johnston will take over as head middle school principal.

Before last Friday's announcement, the final three candidates vying to become the next Ronan High School vice principal mingled with school administrators and community members at an informal "meet and greet" last Thursday.

The three men, all born and raised in Lake County, were whittled down from an original candidate field of "well over 15," according to Holmlund.

"We had a deep pool, people from all over the state and out of state, and even outside of the pacific Northwest," Holmlund said.

The three finalists were at ease while taking questions from the public during the hour-long cookies, juice and coffee session.

The potential candidates included Chris Clairmont, Tyson Tucker and Fisher, all with local roots who had gone off elsewhere to earn some experience before jumping at the chance to come home to the area.

Clairmont is originally from Ronan and graduated from RHS in 1996. He recently completed his master's degree in educational leadership at Montana State University. Past experience includes time in Libby and teaching physical education and history in Hot Springs for the last six years. Clairmont said he would be excited to be vice principal because of his familiarity with the area.

"Also, at small schools you're everything for everyone," he said of his past experiences. "Here I can just focus on being a principal."

Tucker hails from Arlee, where many family members still reside. His father, Clyde, recently announced his retirement after coaching football, basketball and track in Arlee for the last 42 years. Tyson earned a football scholarship to MSU after graduating from AHS in 1993 and went on to earn his master's degree at Grand Canyon University soon after. He has spent the last several years teaching high school math and science in Grandview, Wash. He also served as assistant football coach and head track coach, partly because "coaching is in my blood," he said. Tyson said his experience with a similar school system in Grandview has given him insight on issues that malign both, and "I can help make [Ronan] a better place for the kids," he said. His familiarity with the area also helps, he said.

"It's home because my wife grew up in Arlee too and we have three kids who we would like to raise in the same type of environment that we were raised in."

Fisher, a 1992 graduate of RHS, has deep roots in the area. His parents are both faculty members in the school district, he said, and he has taught ninth and tenth grade English at RHS for the past six years. Fisher started off working at schools in Poplar and Judith Gap.

"You wear many hats in those small schools," he said.

Fisher has a master's degree in educational leadership from the University of Montana, and has big plans for helping lead his alma mater.

"Ultimately, I want to increase student success within individual classes," he said. "I think that's the key. Once you do that, everything else falls in place."

For an update on the result of the school board's special meeting, visit www.leaderadvertiser.com.