NANKIN — Bradley Romano will lead two school districts to start the 2026-2027 school year.
Romano, New London Local School District superintendent, was approved Monday evening by the Mapleton Board of Education to serve as the district’s interim superintendent from Aug. 1 to Sept. 30.
Scott Smith announced earlier this year that he would be retiring at the end of the school year after serving as Mapleton’s superintendent since 2018.
Board President Vince Hartzler said four interviews were conducted with candidates seeking the superintendent position.
“We went through the interviews (and) did not come to a satisfactory conclusion to those interviews, so we decided to not hire a full-time superintendent at this time and engage with Mr. Romano for a two-month engagement,” Hartzler said.
The board will have more discussions in the upcoming months about how it plans to address the position long-term, the board president said.
“We’ve been able to work with New London quite a bit, which has been nice. They’re real easy to get along with and we’ve shared services,” Hartzler said. “This is one more thing we get to share for right now.”
Romano has 18 years of administrative experience at New London
Romano has served as New London’s superintendent for the past 13 years. Prior to that, he was the principal of the district’s high school for five years.
His goal for the two months serving as Mapleton’s interim superintendent is to maintain compliance with state statute for the district and help support its administrative team and teachers, he said.
“I’m not looking to come in and turn Mapleton upside down,” Romano said with a smile. “This is a very high-performing school district, so it’s really just continuing to provide that support so they can continue to do the things they’re doing.”
In Ohio, a superintendent is able to serve multiple districts at once as long as there is an agreed-upon arrangement between the districts’ boards of education.
New London also handles fleet maintenance for Mapleton, among other districts, Romano said. But he made it clear Monday’s approval is not a step toward consolidation of the districts.
“It’s pure support and helping a neighboring district out,” he said.
So how will a typical week look during those two months for Romano?
He plans to spend two days a week at Mapleton and two days at New London. Romano will used the fifth day of the school week to float between both districts, he said.
“The nice thing is that New London is a 20-minute drive from office to office, so I can even split my days — spend the morning in one district and the afternoon in the other,” he said.
Technology will also allow the veteran superintendent to keep an eye on both districts simultaneously, no matter where he’s located physically.
“I’m working for both districts full-time, five days a week. I just might physically be someplace else during the work day,” Romano said. “These type of arrangements are only possible when you have strong leadership teams at the building level, which Mapleton has and New London has, and obviously high-performing teachers in the classroom.
“Both districts are set up at a point that makes this workable.”
