JACKSON — Columbus Municipal School District Superintendent Del Phillips is interested in becoming Mississippi”s chief education policymaker.
“It has always been a goal of mine professionally to be the state superintendent, but it also has to be good timing and a good fit,” Phillips said Tuesday.
The post is being vacated by Hank Bounds, who was appointed last week as state higher education commissioner.
State Board of Education Chairman Bill Jones said the process for finding a new state education superintendent hasn”t been set yet but will be discussed Tuesday when the board meets.
Phillips — superintendent of the Columbus Municipal School District since June 2007 — said he hasn”t applied for the state job but will if it suits him.
“I am waiting to see what the process will be and what the state board is looking for in a leader. If I think I”m a good fit, then I will make that professional and personal decision to apply,” he said.
Phillips said his current job in Columbus is fulfilling and enjoyable, but being Mississippi”s chief administrator of elementary-secondary education has much appeal.
“We”ve got a lot of great things happening in Columbus and things that we”ve gotten started. It (leaving the city school job) would be a decision that would be difficult to make in that regards.”
Jones said the state Board of Education”s nine members have various ideas on how to conduct the search and when to have a permanent replacement for Bounds, who”s been state superintendent since 2005.
“It”s a pretty important process and everybody wants to do it so that we get the best candidates,” he said.
The board has appointed the state Department of Education”s former chief fiscal officer as Bounds” temporary replacement. Judy Rhodes served as state director of educational accountability until her 2004 retirement. She”ll take over the department when Bounds leaves near the end of July.
Jones said he”s heard of Phillips along with other people for the board to consider as permanent state superintendent, but he doesn”t have a favorite yet. “There are a lot of potential candidates. I don”t have a front-runner,” he said.
Phillips could be the second Columbus school superintendent seeking the state post. Lester Beason in 2005 applied for the job before the state board picked Bounds.
Phillips, 37, is a Corinth native who began his education career in 1996 as a teacher at South Panola High School in Batesville. He eventually became its principal and then moved in 2005 to Springfield, Mo., to be an associate superintendent of that city”s school district.
When he came to Columbus two years ago to be its school superintendent, he acknowledged then that he aspired to eventually oversee Mississippi”s 149 school districts.
“I”ve always said I wanted to be state superintendent of education. I don”t think I”ve ever hidden that fact,” he said.
Phillips received his bachelor”s degree from Mississippi State University and his master”s and doctorate degrees from the University of Mississippi.
In addition to searching for a state superintendent, the Board of Education is also looking for a new executive director of the Mississippi School of the Arts in Brookhaven. Vicki Lambert recently resigned. The board last week appointed Carol Alderman as MSA”s interim director.
Alderman was executive director of the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science in Columbus for four years. She resigned in June 2008. Since then, she”s been working as a consultant for JBHM Education Group.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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