The Hamilton County Board of Education voted to interview four of the top five candidates for superintendent on Monday, including one who was not previously included in the top five.
Each board member ranked each candidate on a scale of 1-5, with one being the most favorable. Adding the board member scores together, nine would be the best score a candidate could receive, and 45 the worst. The top four candidates are:
- Justin Robertson, interim deputy superintendent of Hamilton County Schools, with a score of 13.
- Jim McIntyre, director and assistant professor of practice at the University of Tennessee's Center of Educational Leadership, with a score of 23.
- Christopher Bernier, superintendent of Clark County School District in Las Vegas, Nevada, with a score of 28.
- Jermaine Dawson, chief academic and accountability officer of Birmingham City Schools, Alabama, with a score of 31.
Dawson was newly-added and included in the candidate overview provided by Ken Carrick of superintendent search firm Buffkin/Baker.
John Tucker, superintendent of Camden County Schools in Georgia, was previously listed on the district's list of top five candidates with his resume posted online, but dropped out of consideration, board secretary Sherrie Ford said Monday.
(READ MORE: These are the five final Hamilton County Schools superintendent candidates)
Carrick said he considered several factors when interviewing the top five, including why they are interested in the role, compensation expectations, communications skills and the previous roles they held.
"The bigger piece is the pie is, do I think from all that information I gotdo I think they have the experience and the fit necessary that warrants your time to interview them?" Carrick said.
The fifth candidate, Natalie McClarty, did not move forward to the final four candidates, with the lowest score of 40 from the board's rankings.
Asked by the board member Tiffanie Robinson who had experience most similar to working in a district like Hamilton County Schools, Carrick said Robertson, McIntyre, Dawson and Bernier. He said compared to the other four candidates, McClarty's experience didn't match the scope of duties the other four candidates had.
"When you compare the breadth and depth along some of the points that you mentioned as well as just scope of responsibility, it does not compare as well as the four others in the candidate pool at this time relative to being a superintendent," Carrick said. "That doesn't mean she can't do the job, it doesn't mean she's not qualified, but in comparison to the other four, I just think they have more breadth and depth in their experience portfolio."
McClarty worked as principal of two Hamilton County Schools - the former Mary Ann Garber Elementary School from 2000-2001, then Hardy Elementary School from 2001-2009, according to her resume.
In the 10 years following, McClarty relocated to Stamford Public Schools in Connecticut and worked in several administrative roles, most recently as director for curriculum, instruction and assessment from 2018-2020. She recently moved back to Tennessee and was the only female candidate in the top five.
The board originally planned to rank the top three candidates, but expanded to four in a 5-3 vote with board member Joe Wingate of Chattanooga abstaining.
Bernier spent a majority of his time as a teacher and administrator in Orange County Public Schools in Florida from 1987-2019, according to his resume, until he became chief of staff of Clark County Schools in Nevada.
McIntyre has worked in K-12 and higher education settings, spending eight years as superintendent of Knox County Schools from 2008-2016 followed by his current role at the University of Tennessee as assistant professor of practice and Director of the Center for Educational Leadership, according to his resume.
Robertson has worked in administrative roles in Hamilton County Schools since 2008, according to his resume, as an assistant principal, principal and most recently as deputy interim superintendent for the district. He is also the sole internal candidate in the search, and several board members and candidates for the District 9 school board seat expressed interest in hiring an internal candidate for the role.
Board Chair Tucker McClendon of East Ridge will hold a virtual community town hall on Nov. 16, according to the district's tentative timeline, and the top three candidates will visit the district between Nov. 15 and Dec. 7 before the board makes a selection Dec. 9.
Resumes for the candidates can be found on the Hamilton County Schools website.
Contact Anika Chaturvedi at achaturvedi@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6592.