Staff Photo by Adam Crisp/Chattanooga Times Free Press
Retiring Cleveland City Schools Director Rick Denning helps board members plan out a daylong interview process for his successor. The school system has five candidates for the position, which should be filled by the summer.CLEVELAND, Tenn. - Five candidates for director of Cleveland City Schools will swing through the city this month in marathon daylong interviews.
Board members got their first glimpses of the five candidates' qualifications during a lunchtime planning meeting Monday. The candidates plan to visit Cleveland between Feb. 14 and Feb. 18.
The finalists come from varying professional backgrounds. They are, in the order of their visits:
* Damon Cathey, assistant superintendent of Kingsport (Tenn.) City Schools.
* David Roper, assistant professor of education at Middle Tennessee State University and former director of assessment for the Tennessee Department of Education.
* Nancy Zambito, superintendent of the Jackson-Madison (Tenn.) County School System.
* Martin Ringstaff, director of personnel and support services for Bristol (Va.) Public Schools.
* Clifford Davis Jr., principal at South-Doyle High School (Knox County Schools) and adjunct professor at University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
"I'm delighted with the quality of these candidates," said Cleveland school board member Dawn Robinson. "I know they don't grow on trees ... and they are hard to find. This board has its work cut out for it to try to make the best match."
After board members told the Tennessee School Board Association what they wanted in a candidate, the association's executive director, Tammy Grissom, and a panel of other educators screened applicants.
There was no salary advertised, but the current director earns $136,000 annually.
On Monday, Grissom delivered the resume packets.
"We had a screening committee, and it wasn't just TSBA employees," Grissom said. "We brought in superintendents, state officials that came in to help us screen. We had a total of 23 applicants. ... We have five finalists that best meet the criteria that this board adopted."
On Monday, board members hammered out the schedule for a day of finalist interviews that starts at 7:30 a.m. and finishes about 9 p.m. each day. Board members want the candidates to meet school administrators, some local dignitaries and even Realtors who can showcase the community's housing stock.
The candidates will have formal evening interviews with the board, then talk casually over a catered dinner at Mayfield Elementary School.
Grissom told board members the entire process must be open to media and public because it constitutes an open meeting under Tennessee Sunshine Laws.
Current schools Director Rick Dennings will leave the job in June after 16 years at the helm of the system.
The director reports to the school board but oversees the day-to-day operations and the administration of a $35 million budget.