School board trustees will hold a special meeting in two weeks to pull the top candidates for the district’s superintendent post.
The application deadline was Jan. 29, and the Yazoo City Municipal School Board will begin the next step in the hiring process during a special call meeting on Feb. 17 at 1 p.m.
The Herald was unable to reach school board president John Wallace as of press time.
But Dave Collins, school board member, said the Mississippi School Board Association has handled the application process when it comes to finding the district’s next superintendent. The school district entered into a $4,500 contract with the state school board association last November.
Collins said the association will bring the applications before the school board during next Wednesday’s meeting.
“We will be talking to a representative from the state school board association about our superintendent search,” Collins said. “The association is holding everything. They will share what they have collected during next week’s meeting.”
Although the state school board association has assisted with the search, representatives in the past have told local trustees that they will play a vital role in the selection.
“In this contract, the board assumes more of the responsibility,” said Dr. Mike Waldrop, executive director of the MSBA. “We help you get everything organized, and then we do background (checks) on these candidates and we give you professional judgement on it, but basically, y'all take a larger role in the selection of the candidate under this (contract).”
The MSBA received all the information from the candidates, but will not interview the candidates. The school board will receive the resumes and the applications from all the candidates. The responsibility of the interview lies with the school board. Waldrop said the MSBA will contact each candidate’s previous places of employment and report the findings to the school board.
Collins said he is unsure of how many candidates have applied for the post.
“We plan to look at the top five candidates,” Collins said. “We will then interview the top five of the pool.”
Collins said he is also uncertain if interim superintendent Lucille Lovette has applied for the position.
“There has been no official announcement to our board as to whether she (Lovette) applied or not,” Collins said.
When asked publically by the city council if she planned to apply for the position, Lovette did not answer what she called “a loaded question.”
“I can’t speak for everyone, but I don’t know if she applied,” Collins added. “She hasn’t said anything to me.”
Collins said the one thing he is sure of is the requirement for the next school superintendent to reside within the district.
“The next superintendent has got to live in Yazoo City, no question about it,” he said. “We cannot have a superintendent commuting anymore. I don’t care if it is a 20-minute commute. Living here is a must.”
Collins said he would also like to see the community’s involvement once the trustees select the top applicants.
“We have got to make sure that everything is transparent,” Collins said. “At some point, we have got to get the community’s involvement.”
The MSBA contract also states that a three-hour workshop will be conducted with the school board on the transition with the new superintendent.
In other school board news:
• The regular scheduled board meeting on Feb. 11 has been rescheduled for Feb. 18 at 5 p.m.
