The Mehlville School District’s Meet the Superintendent event Wednesday, Sept. 27, promises to be quite a celebration as residents most likely will be able to meet the district’s permanent superintendent, Terry Noble.

During a Sept. 20 closed session, board members reached a consensus to select Mr. Noble as the district’s permanent superintendent, effective July 1. Board President Ken Leach told the Call that a closed session to finalize the details of Mr. Noble’s employment was set Wednesday night just before the Meet the Superintendent event.

If everything is finalized as anticipated by board members and Mr. Noble, he will begin his tenure as superintendent at the start of the 2007-2008 school year. This is certainly an exciting turn of events for the Mehlville School District as Mr. Noble was the Board of Education’s unanimous choice to serve as superintendent during a May 30 closed session.

However, Mr. Noble, who currently serves as superintendent of the De Soto School District, could not accept the Mehlville position because his Board of Education would not release him from his contract, primarily because of the timing as the contract year for administrators began July 1.

But what a difference a few months makes as the De Soto Board of Education voted unanimously last week to accept Mr. Noble’s resignation, effective June 30, 2007. This is great news as we believe that Mr. Noble will be a great fit for the Mehlville School District and continue to build on the positive changes the school district has seen under the leadership of interim Superintendent Jerry Chambers.

The Mehlville School District has been fortunate to have the benefit of Dr. Chambers’ immense leadership skills. In fact, he has made more progress moving the Mehlville School District forward in three months than some superintendents have made in three years.

We encourage Mehlville residents to attend the Meet the Superintendent event, which will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Royale Orleans, 2801 Telegraph Road. The event is for adults only and will feature a brief program at 7:30 p.m.

This is a time of great change for the Mehlville School District and this event should be a celebration of the positive impact Dr. Chambers has had on the district and a look toward the bright future Mehlville surely will have under Mr. Noble’s leadership.