After nearly 15 months of being without a permanent superintendent of schools, the Hamilton County Board of Education on Thursday determined it needed to bring a quick curtain down on its search.
After paring the list of superintendent candidates to five, the board decided to pack personal interviews, public forums, school visits and stakeholder gatherings with all the candidates into three days, June 5-7, rather than wait a little longer when it might be able to space them out over a week or over a two-week period.
Earlier this month, board members had set a June 15 date to vote on their final choice. So on Thursday, despite warnings about the crowded timetable by three board members, the board determined to remain on track.
The rush to selection, we feel, continued a corporate tone deafness of the board which, despite members' campaign pledges of transparency, had carried out its initial candidate cut-down process in private rather than in public as it should have.
The planned schedule for interviewing candidates - minus their own scheduling conflicts - forces two of them on two of the three days to be shuttled in and out of schools, group meetings, lunches and forums so as not to be pitted one against the other. However, it also gives the one candidate on the third day an advantage over the other four of having a more relaxed pace.
"That's a lot to do in three days," board member Joe Smith said, echoing sentiments expressed by members Tiffanie Robinson and Karitsa Mosly Jones.
They'll be deciding among Dr. Timothy Gadson III, superintendent designee and executive director of curriculum and schools with Robbinsville (Minn.) Area Schools; Stuart Greenberg, chief academic officer for Leon County (Fla.) Public Schools; Dr. Arthur Wayne Johnson, a business executive with a passion for educational leadership; Dr. Bryan Johnson, chief academic officer for Montgomery County (Tenn.) Schools; and current interim Superintendent Dr. Kirk Kelly.
In Thursday's initial round of voting, Dr. Bryan Johnson received votes from all nine board members, the only candidate to do so. Gadson had eight (missing only Rhonda Thurman's vote), Greenberg and Dr. Wayne Johnson had six apiece, and Jack Elsey, chief schools officer of the Education Achievement Authority of Michigan, and Kelly had five apiece.
In the tie-breaking second round, former Hamilton County Schools educators Joe Galloway, Dr. Steve Highlander and Dr. David Testerman, along with Jones and Kathy Lennon, voted for Kelly.
Lennon, who had tried to make the longtime Hamilton County educator's status as superintendent permanent last fall, and Testerman had put both Elsey and Kelly on their initial lists.
What this suggests to us is, despite the $60,000 search for highly qualified national candidates and an outcry for improvement from local business leaders, nonprofits and other stakeholders, five votes are available to elect Kelly, a kind man but one who we believe is not the change agent the district needs as a permanent superintendent.
Kelly, a product of the local schools he seeks to lead, only was made an assistant superintendent in 2015. When Rick Smith resigned as superintendent more than a year ago in light of the fallout over the rape of an Ooltewah High School basketball player, plus the burden of low district test scores and a severe warning from the state over plans for the district's low-performing schools, Kelly was named co-acting superintendent and then narrowly was elected interim superintendent a month later.
Kelly and Chief Academic Officer Jill Levine attempted to right the ship by emphasizing literacy, student engagement and college/career readiness, among other targeted areas, during this just completed school year, but we believe more sweeping changes and nontraditional thought are necessary.
It would have been easier to gauge any improved student achievement this year had the state Department of Education been able to return grades from the district's TNReady proficiency tests, but such scores weren't available to be tabulated as part of student grades. Last year, many students didn't test because of a statewide computer crash. This year, fingers have been pointed as to whom was at fault, the education department or local officials across the state who didn't return the tests on time.
In truth, the fault at this point doesn't matter. The scores weren't there - again - and it makes proper assessment much more difficult.
With several Hamilton County towns strongly considering starting their own school districts and the state prepared to place some low-performing district schools in a separate nonprofit, strong leadership is critical. That's why we hoped the board would take these final steps slowly. Now, we just hope all stakeholders pay close attention, listen carefully to each candidate and make their voices known about the next person who will hold this crucial position.