ANDERSON — Frankton-Lapel Superintendent Ned Speicher is packing his bags and moving to Rensselaer to become that school district’s top administrator.

Speicher will make the move in August. The Rensselaer Central School Corp. board of trustees on Tuesday unanimously approved hiring him as superintendent.

The Rensselaer school board’s decision comes more than two months after Speicher announced he was retiring as superintendent of Frankton-Lapel Community Schools. He has served in that role for 11 years.

Part of the reason Speicher is moving to Rensselaer is because his wife, Deb, is originally from that area and her mother is still living there. She is looking forward to the opportunity to spend more time with her mother, he said.

Speicher’s contract with Frankton-Lapel schools does not end until 2011, but state law allows him to retire, wait 30 days and then take a new job.

The Frankton-Lapel school board is in the process of interviewing candidates to replace Speicher, said Nancy Likens, school board president. Whoever is hired is expected to start working July 1.

Speicher said he still plans to work closely with whoever is hired to help ease the transition. He will have more than a month before he moves to the Rensselaer school district.

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Frankton-Lapel Community Schools Superintendent Ned Speicher made the following comments after being hired Tuesday as superintendent of the Rensselaer Central School Corp:

“I am thrilled to be here,” Speicher said. “I’m looking forward to getting to know all of you and working with you. It is exciting to know that you already have a very good school system. I’m looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and helping the school corporation grow and improve.

“My contract (with Frankton-Lapel) goes to 2011, but the state of Indiana made this wonderful deal where I can retire, take a 30-day separation and then a new job. I can get my retirement and salary, which allows my wife to retire and take care of the grandchildren if she cares to.”

— Source: The Rensselaer Republican