The Burlington School Board has made its choice of a new superintendent and his name is Patrick — Patrick Coen.
The board will vote on his $185,000 contract (plus benefits) tonight(Mon) at 7:30.
The 50-year old chief of the nearby Winfield-Mt. Union district since July of 2009 says Burlington is not a district in trouble and he says he already has a vested interest in seeing the Burlington schools do well, because he’s from here and his parents and grandparents still live here.
Coen says the fact that he’s moving from a very small (school) system…Winfield-Mt.Union…to a mid-sized district…Burlington, does make a difference…but he doesn’t find it intimidating because he served in the Iowa National Guard in Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border, one of the most dangerous places in the world.
Coen spent 21 years with the Iowa National Guard; he’s now retired from the military. The other semi-finalist for Jane Evans’ job was Patrick Sweeney of Phoenix, Arizona, a Dubuque native.
