Meeting in a special called work session Wednesday, the Scott County Board of Education hammered out a tentative plan for its search for a new Director; a process that will take two months to complete. Per a verbal agreement, the District will advertise the vacancy in early March, accept applications and resumes throughout the month, interview prospective candidates in April and hire a new Director by early May.
Following
a suggested timeline proposed by County Attorney John Beaty,
the Board of Education tentatively agreed to advertise the vacancy in early
March, a decision that will be formally considered at a special called meeting
on March 1, 2011. After much discussion,
the Board agreed the vacancy should be advertised in the local newspaper
(Independent Herald), regionally in the Knoxville News Sentinel and globally on
the district’s website. If the procedure
is approved, applications and resumes will be accepted until Friday, April 1,
2011 at 12:00 p.m. in the
At the Board’s next scheduled work session on April 5, 2011, the Board will consider the applicants and possibly develop a window for the purpose of interviewing potential candidates. At the Board regularly schedule April meeting on April 14, 2011, the Board will likely determine the candidates its wishes to interview and hold those meetings the week(s) of April 18, 2011 and April 25, 2011.
Should the process proceed as planned, the Board would likely hold a special-called meeting on the evening of its May work session (Tuesday, May 3, 2011) to select a new Director. The measure would then be ratified and the Director’s contract approved at the Board’s regular meeting on May 12, 2011.
While urging the Board to formally adopt a timeline and procedure for selection a new Director, Beaty also encouraged the body to keep the process flexible enough to allow for unforeseen circumstances.
After much discussion Wednesday afternoon, the Board agreed to limit its eligibility requirements for the position to those currently dictated by its policies; namely the applicant must hold a professional education license, a Master’s Degree in Education with a preference for a Doctorate degree; and three years of successful experience in school administration. While other requirements were discussed, especially a greater emphasis on administrative experience, the Board opted to stay with it policy, which already has more rigorous guidelines than those required by the State. According to Beaty, by statute, the Director’s position only requires a Bachelor’s Degree.
Beaty also reminded the Board that the appointment of a new Director, per district policy, would require a 2/3 majority (or five) votes of its membership; however, the policy can be suspended by a simple majority of the body.