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Superintendent search in committee’s hands

By Greg Bird
birdman@tmcvoice.com

The Board of Education and Superintendent search Screening Committee held their first joint meeting Monday night, officially starting the next phase of hiring a new Superintendent for the McCreary County School District.
The joint meeting lasted just under 30 minutes, where the committee was introduced to the Board and received the official charge to review the applicants for the vacant position and to recommend three to six candidates for the Board to interview.
Tim Eaton, of the Kentucky School Boards Association, has been retained to guide the Board and committee over the next months through the process.
Eaton described the roles and responsibilities each body has during the process and answered questions before meeting with the committee to start their duties.
A total of 15 completed applications were presented to the committee members for review. Eaton provided this additional demographic breakdown of the applicants: 13 are men, while 2 are women. Four are either current or previous superintendents, eight are central office administration, two are principals and one is currently teaching. Of the 15 applications, two are out of state. Eaton would not provide a further breakdown of in-county or out-of-county applicants.
The committee is comprised of Board member Lori Foster, McCreary Middle Principal Todd Waters, teachers Angela Loudermilk and Kathy Neal, certified employee Holly Daugherty and parent Ashley Bruce.
Over the next month the committee will review all applications, conduct reference checks on those candidates they consider and develop a list of applicants they feel are best qualified for the position.
The committee will meet twice more in closed session over the next few weeks as they work to narrow the field.
On May 16 the two groups will meet again, where the committee will officially present their recommendations to the Board – triggering the next phase.
From there the Board will be able to review the recommended candidates, and any other applications received to determine which applicants to interview for the position.
Between May 17 and 31 the interviews will be scheduled, with the goal of naming a new Superintendent by June 15.
Before the meeting closed Board members Lori Foster, (who is serving on the committee) and Debbie Gibson stated they had already been contacted by one of the applicants who wished to meet with them and discuss their “vision.”
Both Eaton and Board Attorney Tom Crawford said any such contact would be inappropriate and advised the Board and committee members to avoid speaking with any of the applicants outside of the search process.
The other three Board members all stated they had not received a similar call.

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