(Aurora, Ind.) – South Ripley Schools' John Mehrle is crossing county lines to become the new superintendent of South Dearborn Community Schools.
The school board voted 7-0 Monday evening to hire Mehrle to succeed outgoing superintendent Tom Book, whose last day on the job will be June 30.
Mehrle, an Aurora resident, is currently the superintendent at South Ripley Community Schools in Versailles.
“John will do a fine job. He has valuable experience at South Ripley and will be an excellent superintendent here at South Dearborn,” Book said Tuesday morning. “John is well-respected by his colleagues both inside and outside of South Ripley.”
The superintendent job will be Mehrle’s third go-round at South Dearborn. He was a high school Spanish teacher for seven years starting in 1992. He departed for a principal job at Eastern Greene High School in Bloomfield, Indiana in 1999.
In 2003, he came back to South Dearborn as an assistant high school principal. Four years later he would become assistant superintendent under Ted Ahaus at South Ripley Community Schools, eventually becoming head superintendent when Ahaus retired in 2010.
Meanwhile, Book is looking forward to retirement after nine years as South Dearborn Community Schools’ superintendent.
“I’ll stay around the community,” he said.
Mehrle could not be reached for comment Tuesday morning due to a phone outage.
