Though the three finalists vying for Lowndes County School District superintendent were interviewed behind closed doors Tuesday, their identities are now clear.
Assistant Superintendent Susan Johnson and New Hope Middle School Principal Sam Allison are the two internal candidates who interviewed before the board and a handpicked panel of 15 stakeholders Tuesday evening at Central Office. Christy Maulding, a deputy superintendent at Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District, is the third finalist.
Tommye Henderson, superintendent search consultant with the Mississippi School Boards Association, asked interview questions submitted by the general public, while the board and panel took notes. The interviews were held in executive session, meaning non-participants were not allowed to observe.
“(They were questioned about) just the jobs they would be performing as superintendent … some of the situations that we’ve had come up and how they would handle those situations,” LCSD board president Robert Barksdale said.
Each board member selected three members of the citizen panel from their respective elected districts.
Barksdale, who previously said the panel would provide the board feedback from the interviews, told The Dispatch on Tuesday he wasn’t sure when a hire would be decided. It could come as soon as 5:30 p.m. Monday, when the board plans to meet again.
The new superintendent will replace Lynn Wright, whose second four-year elected term will expire Dec. 31. Prior to a law passed in 2016, counties could choose whether to select a superintendent by election or board appointment. Under the new law, which takes effect Jan. 1, all superintendents must be board-appointed. Earlier this year, the district hired MSBA to assist in the search.
Wright applied to keep his job, but the board decided last week not to include him among the finalists.
The board previously would not disclose candidates’ names on the record, and each finalist left Tuesday’s meeting without speaking to media.
Interview process
Henderson told The Dispatch each candidate — all of whom were in the room during each other’s interviews — had 10 minutes to introduce themselves and talk about their vision for the school district before answering questions.
“All stakeholders in Lowndes County had the opportunity to submit questions to me during a two-week period of time, and they were all anonymous,” Henderson said. “… I just compiled a list of all the questions that were submitted and then I sent them to the board for their review and they highlighted the ones they thought were most important.”
Candidates were also asked to answer three questions during their introduction: How would they build relationships with internal and external stakeholders?; how would they improve staff morale and trust?; and what made them the right fit for LCSD superintendent?
Henderson said stakeholders were asked to rate each candidate on a 25-item grading form and submitted the forms to her. She will compile the ratings and stakeholders’ comments and send them to the board. The ratings will be one factor in deciding on a superintendent, she said.
Neither Henderson nor Barksdale gave The Dispatch a copy of the form, but stakeholders The Dispatch talked to said they included a scale for grading candidates on qualities like communication, leaderships skills and personal appearance.
Adrienne Morris, the mother of a West Lowndes Elementary School student who had been asked to be part of the committee of stakeholders by board member Jacqueline Gray, told The Dispatch the questions Henderson asked candidates ranged from policies and procedures to their approach to district finances and what they felt their greatest accomplishments were.
“One question was about how would they handle safety or threats,” she said.
Stakeholder Callie Stone, the mother of three New Hope Elementary School students, said her primary concern coming into the interviews was financial.
“Just because … the district has had so many financial struggles recently,” she said. “So as a parent who is invested and has three kids in the school district, that was a big concern of mine.”
Neither Morris nor Stone wanted to say which candidate they preferred — Stone said she wasn’t sure she could decide right then — but both said they were impressed with their answers.
“I think they’re all three very qualified,” Stone said.
Morris said she was happy to be involved in the interview process.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to be able to be involved in this process and to be open to additional opportunities in the future for parents or stakeholders or whomever in the community to be able to have access to decisions like this,” Morris said. “… It’s just important.”
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