DeMasters named ISD superintendent, Celina Record

DeMasters named new Celina ISD superintendent Lisa Ferguson, lferguson@starlocalmedia.com Feb 2, 2016 Rick DeMasters was named the new Celina ISD superintendent Jan. 28. He will take over for former Superintendent Donny O’Dell, who last month announced he would step down from the position he’d held since 2012. Also during last week’s school board meeting, O’Dell was named the district’s assistant superintendent, a position he intends to hold until he officially retires in June following a 28-year career with the district. “We are flipping roles to a certain degree,” DeMasters said. “Mr. O’Dell and I have worked so closely together for a number of years that we share a lot in the decisions that we make and the projects that we tackle, and so that really won’t change. “The ultimate decision will now stop with me, but the fact that he and I work so closely together on everything for the best interest of the district obviously won’t change.” O’Dell said last month he thought DeMasters was “the most-well-equipped person” for the job. “He knows the community now … and I think it’s just a perfect fit, and I think he will do an excellent job.” DeMasters, 57, has worked for Celina ISD for five years. He served as Celina High School principal for a year before stepping into the assistant superintendent role in 2012. Earlier in his career, he spent four years as assistant superintendent with Van Alstyne ISD. He also worked in other school districts around the state as a teacher, athletic director, coach and administrator. Among the first things DeMasters said he plans to do as superintendent is conduct evaluations and assessments of all Celina ISD programs, as well as the district’s “overall environment (and) take a look at all the good things we do and try to build upon those.” He also wants to “take a look at some of the areas that we feel we need to improve on and try to set strategic plans in place to try to address those. “The biggest-ticket item that we’re really going to have to address right now, obviously, is the growth,” he said, “and that will be a continued process from here moving forward because that will be almost daily.” That growth, he said, “will dictate some changes for us as we move forward, and we’ll embrace that as it comes to us. We’ll definitely try to prepare for that, be proactive in that preparation, so that we can deal with it once that gets to us.” The search for a new assistant superintendent to replace O’Dell upon his retirement will commence in coming months. “We’ve got a little bit of time before we have to make that decision, but there definitely will be a replacement or replacements, if you will, depending on just how we feel we need to address that,” DeMasters said. While there are no internal or external candidates vying for the job, he said the position will be filled prior to the start of the 2016-2017 school year in August.