A community committee this week interviewed eight candidates for the Kosciusko Superintendent slot which will be vacated by current Superintendent Gina Smith at the end of June.
The Kosciusko School Board formed the committee after receiving 21 applications through the Mississippi School Board Association on the city’s behalf. The Board narrowed the list to nine candidates for the community committee to interview, but one dropped out before those discussions were conducted.
Quick said there will be no open forum for residents to participate in the process, but that the community committee was formed to act in that role.
“That’s why we went with a community committee. We’ve got at least two parents involved. We’ve got a retired counselor, an M.D., a past Board member, the Mayor and a couple of business people,” he said.
“We have three females, three males and two of the members are from minority areas,” he said of the committee makeup. “We tried to cover all the bases on the committee.”
On Tuesday, Quick confirmed that the Community Committee members are Mayor Jimmy Cockroft, Alison Tyler, Dr. Tim Alford, Jonathan Powers, Pat Bell and Dr. Chancey Fort.
The School Board president had previously told the Star-Herald that neither the board nor the Community Committee would be formally releasing any candidates’ names until a final selection was made.
“The School Board and this committee are not going to be out there talking,” he said. “If it gets out, that’s one thing, but it’s better if the School Board doesn’t talk about it.”
Asked why names were being withheld even though members of both groups are free to contact potential references of the candidates, Quick said the groups are simply following the advice ofDr. Michael Waldrop, the executive director of the Mississippi School Board Association, and their legal counsel Jim Keith.
The Community Committee had limited information about the candidates available at the time of their interviews. They did not have candidate resumes, but were given names, current positions and contact information.
n an earlier press release, the School Board indicated that all applicants would be evaluated against “newly enacted legislative requirements mandated for all administrators seeking to serve as a school superintendent in Mississippi: Classroom or administrative experience of not less than six years which shall include at least three years of administrative experience as a school building principal (1) in a school with an “A” or “B” accountability rating, (2) in a school that increased its accountability rating by a letter grade during the period in which the principal was employed as principal at the school, (3) in a school with comparable accountability rating of improvement in another state which shall be verified by the Mississippi Department of Education, or (4) served as a superintendent or assistant superintendent within the last five years.”
When asked again more recently if there would be an open forum for residents to question finalists, Quick said the School Board will rely on their own and the Community Committee’s evaluations, but that residents are welcome to provide guidance to the School Board by submitting questions.
“If there is something they want us to check on, they can put it in writing and submit it to the Central Office,” he said. “If they’ve got questions, they should ask them no matter who the applicants are.”
