STARKVILLE — Semifinalist interviews for the superintendent job at Starkville School District have been rescheduled, the district announced Thursday.
Five semifinalists were supposed to interview for the vacant position Saturday. Logistics among candidates and board members nixed the marathon interview session, said Keith Coble, board of trustees president.
Instead, the board will interview the candidates in executive session Monday, Tuesday and Thursday of next week.
Dr. Lewis Holloway, superintendent of Bulloch County School District (Ga.), and Dr. Michael Van Winkle, assistant superintendent of Jackson County School District, will interview Monday at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., respectively.
Starkville schools Assistant Superintendent Dr. Walter Gonsoulin and Union Public School District Superintendent Dr. Michael McInnis will interview Tuesday at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., respectively.
Dr. David Andy Parker, principal at Bay St. Louis High School, will interview at 6 p.m. Thursday.
All interviews will be in closed session in Room 14 at the Greensboro Center on Greensboro Street.
“We probably made (the initial date) sound more definite than it was at the last meeting,” Coble said.
The board will create a list of finalists after interviews next week and have a public interview session in the theater at Starkville High School.
Feb. 2 was originally scheduled for public interviews. The likely date now is Feb. 6 at 5:30 p.m. Candidates will make presentations to the board and school district stakeholders. The school board will ask questions of the finalists submitted by the public, which can be submitted to Public Information Officer Nicole Thomas at [email protected]. There also will be a reception for the finalists and the Starkville community in the high school library.
Each of the five candidates has experience as an assistant superintendent. Holloway and McInnis are the only two who have held the top job at a school district.
Holloway, McInnis and Parker each earned undergraduate or master’s degrees from Mississippi State University. All five candidates have worked in Mississippi during their careers.
None of the five is a candidate for other superintendent jobs. However, some of the candidates have been finalists for recent superintendent openings.
McInnis was a finalist for superintendent jobs at Brookhaven and Biloxi, both filled in 2011.
Gonsoulin was a finalist for the head schools jobs in Lafayette Parrish, La., and Bessemer, Ala., both of which have been filled since last summer.
Van Winkle was a finalist for the Biloxi job.
The Columbus Municipal School District is searching for a superintendent as well.
Both districts are paying the Mississippi School Boards Association $9,500 plus expenses for the search.
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