By Joseph Goral
Staff Writer
jgoral@mihomepaper.com
 LAKE ORION — Lake Orion Community Schools announced on June 26 that the Board of Education selected five candidates for interviews to fill the district’s vacant superintendent position.
Interviews will be held during meetings beginning at 4:55 p.m. on July 17 and July 18, at LOCS’s Administration Building, 315 N. Lapeer St.
The interview candidates and schedules are:
Wednesday, July 17
• 5 p.m.: Heidi Mercer, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning, Lake Orion Community Schools.
• 6 p.m.: Meghan Ashkanani, director of teaching, learning, and technology, Berkley School District.
• 7 p.m.: Catherine Kochanski, assistant superintendent of learning services, Walled Lake Consolidated Schools.
Thursday, July 18
• 5 p.m.: Kenneth Janczarek, superintendent, Clintondale Community Schools.
• 6 p.m.: Todd Bidlack, assistant superintendent of learning services, Bloomfield Hills Schools.
The interviews are open to the public, who will have an opportunity to provide the board with written feedback after each interview. The board will decide which candidates to invite for second-round interviews. Two finalists will be interviewed on July 30, and/or July 31.
Mercer, Ashkanani, Kochanski, Janczarek and Bidlack were selected from a field of 18 applicants.
“Thank you to all the candidates who applied for the superintendent position,” LOCS Board of Education President Danielle Bresett said. “We deeply appreciate the time and effort dedicated to this process. Each candidate brought a wealth of experience and a profound commitment to educational excellence. Their contributions have greatly enriched our selection process, and we are excited about the promising future ahead for LOCS.”
Recordings of each interview will be available www.lakeorionschools.org/board-of-education/superintendent-search-2024.