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After lengthy search Fayetteville Public Schools hires a Missourian to be their next superintendent

None of the four finalists for the Superintendent position at Fayetteville (Arkansas) Public Schools were from Arkansas. Three were from Missouri, another from Texas.

The search for a new school superintendent in Fayetteville, Arkansas appears to be over. The district announced Thursday they offered the position to the current Deputy Superintendent of Operations for the Springfield Public Schools. KRPS’s Fred Fletcher-Fierro has more.

Dr. John Mulford hasnever worked or lived in Arkansas, until now. He was offered the position of Superintendent at Fayetteville Public School after an exhaustive search that included two other southwest Missouri Superintendents.

Webb City’s Tony Rosetti and Branson's Brad Swofford. In fact, Fayetteville offered the job to Swofford who turned it down only to stay at Branson Public Schools. This will be the third school district that Dr. Mulford has overseen.

For three years between 2015 and 2018 he was the superintendent of Meramec Valley R-III School District. For nine years prior to that appointment Mulford worked at the West Plains R-VIII School District where he spent four years as an Assistant Superintendent and five years as the Superintendent.

Dr. Mulford will be the 14th superintendent in the 152-year history of Fayetteville Public Schools. He will succeed Dr. John L Colbert, who is retiring in June after a 47-year career with the district. For 89 9 KRPS News, I’m Fred Fletcher-Fierro

Since 2017 Fred Fletcher-Fierro has driven up Highway 171 through thunderstorms, downpours, snow, and ice storms to host KRPS’s Morning Edition. He’s also a daily reporter for the station, covering city government, elections, public safety, arts, entertainment, culture, sports and more. Fred has also spearheaded and overseen a sea change in programming for KRPS from a legacy classical station to one that airs a balance of classical, news, jazz, and cultural programming that better reflects the diverse audience of the Four States. For over two months in the fall of 2022 he worked remotely with NPR staff to relaunch krps.org to an NPR style news and information website.

In the fall of 2023 Fred was promoted to Interim General Manager and was appointed GM in Feburary of 2024.
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