The Metro Nashville Public Schools board set a June deadline for finding a new superintendent, though there was some feeling that the search shouldn’t take that long.
Board members met around a conference table Thursday night in a meeting with little advance notice. Jill Speering noted that the district isn’t starting from a standstill.
“We’ve already done a lot of work from our previous search,” Speering said. “So I would like to see a shorter timeline because we have done so much work already.”
Thursday night, the panel also selected a new search firm, Jim Huge and Associates. And unlike last year’s failed hiring process, the outside headhunter will be paid for by the Nashville Public Education Fund. The same non-profit did the heavy lifting with Mayor Megan Barry’s task force that made recommendations for the next director’s salary and the leadership qualities this person should have.
With school board elections in August, state law prevents the hiring of a new superintendent 45 days ahead of election day and 30 days after. So if a new superintendent isn’t hired by mid-June, it would be at least September. Currently, district chief financial officer Chris Henson is working as the interim director of schools.
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