Dylan Tedders with his son and wife after being chosen as the Okeechobee School District's new superintendent. (Photo by Richard Marion/Lake …

OKEECHOBEE — The Okeechobee County School Board selected Dylan Tedders as the school district’s new superintendent at their May 29 meeting.

The board voted 5-0 to select Tedders as the new superintendent, replacing Ken Kenworthy.

Kenworthy retired earlier this year after 11 years serving the district. The School Board’s first task was to choose an interim superintendent to work as they searched for Kenworthy’s permanent replacement.

Tedders was selected as the interim superintendent and began working in the position on March 1.  Board members initially debated the pros and cons of letting the interim superintendent be considered as a candidate, with some worried it would provide an unfair advantage over other applicants.

Ultimately the board voted 3-2 to allow the interim superintendent to apply for the position.

During their search the board narrowed down candidates to four semifinalists, Russel Brown, Jeffrey Reaves, David Raleigh, and Dylan Tedders. Brown and Raleigh withdrew from consideration.

On May 15, board members selected Tedders as their finalist, with a final public interview on May 21.

Tedders is an alumni of OHS, graduating in 1991. He has 28 years of experience in the Okeechobee school district spending time at Yearling Middle School first as a substitute teacher before being asked to be the full time technology teacher.

When Kenworthy retired, school board attorney Tom Conely said that the next superintendent would have big shoes to fill.  Tedders has a history of doing just that. In 2001 he was hired as the Brahman baseball coach, replacing outgoing coach Tim Gillis. The Brahmans would go on to make the state tournament during his time with the team. He left Yearling to become an assistant principal at OHS, eventually becoming principal at the high school in 2014, replacing Toni Wiersma.