By Mary Pieper, Mason City Globe Gazette

LAKE MILLS — The Lake Mills School Board on Monday selected Chad Kohagen as the district’s next superintendent.

Kohagen is the high school principal at Oelwein High School in Oelwein, Iowa. He will succeed Daryl Sherman, who is retiring at the end of June after 39 years in education, 21 of them as Lake Mills superintendent.

The other three finalists were Brian Costello, elementary principal at Northwood-Kensett; Donita Joens, superintendent at the River Valley School District, Correctionville, Iowa; and Troy Heller, superintendent at Tripoli.

School Board members, as well as a group of parents and other community members, a school staff group and the principals, interviewed the finalists last week.

The district received 20 applicants for the superintendent’s position. The board narrowed the field first to seven and then to four.

Kohagen’s salary will be $120,000. He begins his duties July 1.

Kohagen has served as high school principal at Oelwein since 2007. He was the assistant principal/activities director in 2006-07.

He has a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education from Upper Iowa University; master’s degrees in health and physical education and educational administration from Emporia State University in Kansas; and a superintendent endorsement from the University of Northern Iowa.