A year ago, the Columbus Municipal School District accepted the resignation of then-Superintendent Dr. Del Phillips; the district has been without a permanent, full-time leader since.
On Thursday at 6 p.m. at Brandon Central Services, the district’s board of trustees again will meet with consultants from the Mississippi School Boards Association to review candidate resumes and discuss background information MSBA gleaned, while researching the applicants for the position.
The board placed advertisements in regional and national publications at the beginning of the year, with the application process closing Jan. 31. Initially, 10 people applied for the position, but one withdrew Feb. 10 and another withdrew shortly afterward.
When the board convened March 1 to discuss the first batch of resumes, they decided to reopen the application process until March 22, in hopes of obtaining a broader candidate pool.
All board members were in favor of extending the search, except Currie Fisher, who said she felt it was time to make a choice, even though she would have liked to have seen “a healthier pool of applicants.”
MSBA will not disclose the number of new applicants until the information is conveyed to the school board, Executive Director Michael Waldrop said Wednesday morning.
Thursday night’s meeting is open to the public, but like the previous meeting to discuss resumes, the majority of the evening will be spent in closed executive session.
Neither the media nor the general public is allowed to observe executive sessions, which is standard procedure for personnel issues. Board members and those who are asked to remain for the executive session are bound to confidentiality, but if any action is taken, it must be divulged to the public, when the board returns to open session.
Board member Glenn Lautzenhiser said a district superintendent could theoretically be chosen Thursday night, but it’s unlikely. The last time the board received resumes from MSBA, board members asked for a week to review them, before reaching a decision.
MSBA was hired by the board last July to handle the superintendent search. Former Assistant Superintendent Dr. Martha Liddell has served as interim superintendent since Phillips resigned to accept a position as Director of Schools for the Sumner County School System in Gallatin, Tenn.
Waldrop said it’s not unusual for a board to spend so long looking for a replacement, and he is seeing searches last longer than in the past. He attributes the lengthier process to fewer candidates applying for positions.
“Also, school boards are spending additional time doing their ‘due diligence,'” Waldrop said. “Finding the right person/fit is the most important thing, not getting someone on the job within a certain timeframe. We are seeing more school systems using interim superintendents for extended periods.”
School boards throughout the state are also facing another difficulty, Waldrop said. With more than 20 superintendents vacating their positions over the past year, there are more positions to be filled, which has heavily impacted recruiting.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.