CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Cleveland City Schools board members have agreed to fund an $8,500 search for a new superintendent.
“It’s just the cost of doing business,” board member Dawn Robinson said at Thursday’s board meeting. “This is the biggest job this board will ever do. … We are going to work very hard to get the very best person.”
Cleveland City Schools Director Rick Denning recently announced that he will retire in July 2011.
Tammy Grissom, executive director of the Tennessee School Boards Association, spoke with board members Thursday about search options.
The evaluation process involves meeting with as many people as possible in the school system to determine what’s working, the challenges and the needed changes, Grissom said.
She recommended that business luncheons and centralized public meetings could help the district get to know candidates, but cautioned the board not to take too long.
“We want input from the community,” she said. “But sometimes you just need to wrap it up, get your leader and move forward.”
Grissom also advised the board to come up with a standard set of questions for each candidate.
“They’re trying to get a job, but you also have to sell them on your community and make them want to come to Cleveland,” she said.
Before the search begins, the school board must decide on a salary range, Grissom added.
Denning’s annual salary is $136,991.
Robinson said she hopes a replacement would be available by April to sit in on budget development meetings for the next year.
Denning said he originally planned to leave in December so his successor could handle the budget, but he felt compelled to stay to see Cleveland High School’s new science wing completed.
Board member Murl Dirksen asked if the board should search only for candidates with doctoral degrees.
“Cleveland City Schools is a very highly respected school system,” Denning replied. “You’ve had 42 years of superintendents with doctorates. … There is an image there that you may or may not be interested in.”