Odin’s new Superintendent Sam Alli.
The Odin School has a new Superintendent and Principal beginning next school year.
The School Board selected current Principal Sam Alli to take the reins of Superintendant from Jeff Humes who is retiring at the end of the current school year. The board then hired Carlyle Junior High Teacher Zach Huels as the new principal. Both have received two-year contracts.
Alli has been Principal at Odin for eight years and was a Salem Community High School teacher before that. He comes into the job with a plan to get the high school out of its current three-story building that has only limited life remaining without having to go back to the taxpayers for a tax increase to do it. Alli is currently working with the district’s financial consultant and Lunsford Architects to develop a plan.
New Odin Principal Zach Huels
“We are just going to look at putting an addition on. And when I say eliminating what’s old I don’t see us tearing down that old 107-year-old building right away but the goal is to get us off of those floors. Looking at ADA things and a greener and more state of the art environment for our students is the goal there.”
Alli is uncertain at this point if all parts of the original plan presented before the failed tax increase proposal can be completed.
“In a perfect world yes. It might be phased in where we can only do bits of that at a time but we will use that as a benchmark to start from and go from there to see what we can do. I don’t know if we can get all of the revenue to do the entire project as the plan shows, but we will be able to secure enough to get a good chunk of classroom space available.”
Alli says they will also be looking at developing facilities to enhance educational opportunities, including in the vocational arts and making sure the school is a safe environment. He is also complementing the faculty and staff and says he looks forward to working with them.
Alli was one of nine candidates to apply and one of four interviewed by the board for the Superintendent’s position.
