Metro School Board Replaces Jay Steele As Interim Superintendent Before Day One

Metro Schools superintendent Jesse Register is officially retired as of midnight and an interim director starts Wednesday morning, but it’s not the one the board of education voted for last week. The divided panel narrowly voted Tuesday night to reconsider the original selection following an open meetings complaint.

Instead of the ”
love-him-or-hate-him” Jay Steele, who has been the district’s chief academic officer, the board voted to appoint the mild-mannered chief financial officer Chris Henson as interim superintendent.

Here’s how.

At the emergency meeting, board chairwoman Sharon Gentry apologized about the previous week’s meeting, where five board members unexpectedly nominated and approved Steele as interim.

“I was just caught unawares again and did not call for discussion and probably – not that it would have made a different outcome – but it would have given those the way they voted to express themselves better,” Gentry said.

An
ethics complaint accuses the board members who supported Steele of meeting in a backroom and plotting to go against Henson, the presumed choice for interim.

Steele supporters beat back the charges Tuesday night, saying they simply thought the district needed someone who could keep up the momentum not just babysit until a new leader is named.

“We absolutely need an educator in this seat,” board member Jill Speering said Tuesday.

But this week, there weren’t enough Steele supporters to win. Anna Shepherd was absent because of a planned surgery, and chairwoman Gentry refused to delay the vote.

“This vote is a rigged vote,” board member Amy Frogge said. “It’s a sham, and everyone up here knows what you’re doing, so let’s just vote.”

As Frogge predicted, the board voted out Steele, who had applied for the permanent job but
failed to make the shortlist. Instead, they appointed Henson, who served as interim superintendent for a fully year in 2008.

“Mr. Henson has in fact stepped into this role before, served nobly and runs very little risk of being incredibly divisive within our community,” board member Elissa Kim said. 

Several board members acknowledged that the indecision on an interim doesn’t bode well for finding a long-term superintendent, which is supposed to be done this month.

“I think we are, in all likelihood, looking at a protracted search process because of how deeply divided the board is on ideological issues,” board member Will Pinkston said.