Fast facts
› A Coleman search firm has reached out to about 700 candidates› Only about eight to 10 of those are considered serious candidates
Interim superintendent of Hamilton County Schools Dr. Kirk Kelly speaks during a District 5 Community Schools Meeting Monday, Feb. 13, 2017 at Brainerd High School. The search firm helping Hamilton County find its next superintendent says it’s struggling to rally interest in the job and needs more time before presenting the board with a list of candidates.
More than a year has passed since former Superintendent Rick Smith resigned, and some school board members worry the district won’t have a permanent leader by the start of school this fall.
In October, the board hired Coleman Lew and Associates Inc. for $60,000 to conduct the search. The firm was optimistic it could provide a slate of candidates by late February, but it took the board until the end of January to finalize the job description. Coleman had said it would try to have a list of candidates by the end of this month, but that isn’t going to happen.
In a letter to the school board, Coleman president Ken Carrick said the “overall response/interest [in the superintendent position] has been very light.”