Superintendent Jungmann starts today

John Jungmann, who was selected earlier this year to fill the post vacated by Norm Ridder, starts his duties today as superintendent of Springfield Public Schools.

Ridder, who served as the leader of SPS for nine years, starts today as interim superintendent for the 10,000-student Mehlville School District in St. Louis.

Jungmann comes to the 25,000-student SPS from Liberty Public Schools near Kansas City, where he led the 11,500-student district as superintendent, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.

At SPS, Jungmann will earn a salary of roughly $250,000.

Starting out, Jungmann plans to review all functions of the district on a listening tour. His goals for the first three months also include establishing a relationship with the board of education, reviewing student performance statistics and promoting improvement with a focus on student achievement, according to a news release.

Also starting today is Chief Financial and Operations Officer Carol Embree, who worked alongside Jungmann in Liberty in a similar role. She succeeds Steve Chodes, who accepted a job as chief financial officer for EducationPlus in the St. Louis area. Embree will earn $146,337 for the 2014-15 academic year, according to SBJ archives.