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Info on the finalists:Natasha Baker: State school reform officer for the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget. Previously, Baker was the deputy superintendent and state school reform officer in the division of education services for the Michigan Department of Education.Clifford Davis Jr.: Chief of staff for Knox County Schools. Davis has been in Knox County Schools since 2005, previously working as the executive director of secondary education.Jack Elsey Jr.: Chief schools officer for the Education Achievement Authority of Michigan. Before that, Elsey was the chief officer of innovation and incubation for Chicago Public Schools. From 2005-2011 he was the managing director of public affairs and school relations for Teach for America, New York.Timothy Gadson III: Superintendent designee and executive director of curriculum and schools for Robbinsdale Area Schools in Minnesota. From 2014 to 2016, Gadson worked as the associate superintendent for Atlanta Public Schools.Stuart Greenberg: Chief academic officer for Leon County Public Schools in Florida. Before that, Greenberg was the executive director for reading and early learning for the Florida Department of Education. Greenberg was one of the six finalists in Knox County’s recent superintendent search.Arthur Wayne Johnson: Founder and chairman of First Performance Corp. and former CEO of Reunion Financial Services Corp. and a managing partner at Global Education Partners. He lives in Georgia.Bryan Johnson: Chief academic officer for Clarksville-Montgomery County School System in Tennessee. Before being named to that position, he served as the director of high schools for the district.Kirk Kelly: Interim superintendent of Hamilton County Schools. Kelly has been an educator in Chattanooga and Hamilton County schools for 35 years, starting as a math teacher and moving up to assistant superintendent for accountability and testing, before being selected to serve as interim superintendent.Source: Information about each candidate is taken from their résumés.
After several major distractions and delays, Hamilton County Board of Education members are hoping they’ve reached the final stretch in the search for a permanent superintendent.
It’s been 14 months since the district’s previous superintendent stepped down, and on Monday night the board will finish interviewing the eight candidates by videoconference. The board plans to trim the list to five finalists during a public meeting on Thursday, and have those candidates each visit on a different day between June 5 and June 9 for in-person interviews.
And on June 15, the board hopes to select Hamilton County’s next school superintendent.
Board member Tiffanie Robinson presented the plan to the board during its meeting Thursday night, and the members unanimously agreed.