Konkle, who was hired by Ross Schools in 2020, told the Journal-News he has accepted the business manager job with Warren County’s Little Miami Schools for the 2024-2025 school year.
In his message to Ross school employees, Konkle wrote: “I write this letter to you today with a heavy heart. I have resigned from my position as your superintendent effective at the end of this school year.”
“I have enjoyed my experience here, and that is due to you, the incredible staff of the district.”
Konkle, who prior to joining Ross was assistant superintendent at the adjacent Hamilton Schools, said “our district is in a much better position today than when I started four years ago; this makes me very proud of the hard work that has been put in by all of you.”
Konkle is currently in the first year of a five-year superintendent contract with Ross and has also worked in a variety of southwest Ohio school districts during his 31-year career, including stints as a school principal.
His leadership was marked by a continuation of Ross’ decades-long track record of as the county’s overall, top academic performer, according to annual state report card evaluations but also historic financial woes that saw the 2,800-student district lose three consecutive tax levies.
Ross voters rejected proposed school operating tax levies twice in 2022 and most recently in May 2023 that saw district officials cut millions in programs and personnel in efforts to mitigate projected budget deficits.
Moreover, the start of Konkle’s tenure came just a few months after the onset of the COVID pandemic, which shuttered all Ohio schools in March 2020 for the remainder of that school year and severely impacted classroom learning and school day scheduling in the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years.
“Together we have overcome many challenges over the past few years. We survived COVID and all that came with it, (and) we survived a financial crisis as a district,” Konkle wrote.
“We balanced the budget and developed a healthy capital improvement fund to begin replacing items that have been neglected. We opened the Intermediate Building and added full-day kindergarten, (and) we changed our athletic league in order to provide our student athletes with a more competitive experience,” said Konkle, who declined to comment beyond his message to employees.
“We have endured a lot of challenges, but most importantly we grew students academically and at a very high level. This is due to each of you, our outstanding staff. I thank you for your passion and dedication to our students and to our community.”
The Ross Board of Education will soon begin a superintendent search, he said.
“I look forward to working with the new superintendent in the transition. I know the school board will work diligently to hire the best candidate to lead the district.”
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