Chief Executive Officer of Regional Programs
Jefferson County Educational Service Center
craig.closser@omeresa.net
740-381-0600

Craig Closser has worked in Ohio public schools for the past 40+ years. He concluded his twenty-seventh year as a superintendent and his twentieth year as Superintendent of the Jefferson County Educational Service Center (JCESC), in 2007. Since then, Craig has been serving as Chief Executive Officer of Regional Programs for the Jefferson County Educational Service Center.

In 1974, he founded the Ohio Mid-Eastern Regional Education Service Agency (OME-RESA) with an Appalachian Regional Commission Grant. In addition to traditional school-related computer services, such as payroll, budgetary accounting, scheduling, grade cards, attendance, networking, library automation, and the Education Management Information System, OME-RESA facilitates cooperative purchasing of educational supplies, cafeteria products, and natural gas for districts across the region. Through OME-RESA, Craig also has developed and implemented a school employee Health Benefits Plan with currently 30,000 insured lives, from 76 school districts and 34 other Ohio Municipalities and other government agencies.

Under Craig's leadership, Jefferson County's regional programs have grown significantly, making JCESC a recognized leader in providing vital county and regional services. At the present time, JCESC has county and regional initiative contracts with 321 Ohio school districts located in 69 of Ohio's 88 counties. The budget for fiscal year 2010 exceeds $200 million.

Under Craig's leadership, JCESC has developed a Virtual Learning Academy with an online curriculum for grades 2-12 aligned with the Ohio Academic Content Standards that are, in turn, rooted in the National Standards. The curriculum is owned by and copyrighted by the Jefferson County Governing Board. The database management system for delivering the 88 VLA courses is also owned by the Jefferson County Governing Board. More than 42,000 students have been enrolled to date with more than 33,500 Ohio students and 8,500 from the other 49 States and Internationally from 23 foreign countries.

Professional Affiliations and Offices
  · The Ohio Education Computer Network (OECN): Management Council Member 15 years;       Management Council Chair 1990-91
  · Buckeye Association of School Administrators (BASA): Member 28 years
  · Ohio Educational Service Center Association (OESCA): Member 20 years; Executive Committee       7 years; Member of a 16-member Panel to develop a statewide plan to align the delivery system      for regional educational services in Ohio Professional Presentations
  · The Association of Educational Service Agencies (AESA): 2001 Atlanta, Georgia; 2002 Dallas,      Texas; 2003 Phoenix, Arizona, 2004 Charleston, S.C., Scottsdale Arizona, 2005, Marco Island,       Florida, and 2007 Scottsdale, Arizona
  · Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) Conference on Telecommunications and the Future      of Appalachian Communities [in 13 states]: 2003 Abingdon, Virginia
     NACOL: Denver 2003

Professional Awards
  · 2004-05 Technology Leader - Administrator of the Year, Buckeye Association of School      Administrators (BASA), Region 7