Thirteen people have applied to be the next Daviess County Public Schools superintendent, and 12 of them are in-state applicants. Current DCPS Superintendent Matt Robbins announced in January that he will retire on August 1.
A joint meeting of the DCPS Board of Education and screening committee was held Tuesday afternoon.
Quinn Sutton, one of the Kentucky School Board Association’s superintendent search consultants, discussed the general applicant information and detailed the selection process during the joint meeting.
Sutton said 15 people initially showed interest in the position but only 13 completed an application. The application process was open from January 24-February 25
Sutton said that 10 of the applicants are men and 3 are women. He said the applicants’ current roles include 2 superintendents, 3 central office employees, 2 principals, 2 teachers, and 4 “other.” None of the applicants are currently retired.
All other details about the applicants are kept private during the screening and review process. The screening committee members are required to sign a confidentiality clause and cannot discuss any applicant information.
Sutton said Kentucky statute requires the appointment of a screening committee, which will provide recommendations regarding who the school board should consider naming as superintendent. However, he noted the board is not bound by the committee, meaning the board does not necessarily have to choose one of the recommended applicants.
“The screening committee does a lot of legwork for the board. … Every screeing committee I’ve ever worked with has had the best interest of the district in mind and has done an outstanding job, and I anticipate the same here. I would ask the board make sure you give serious consideration to what the screening committee recommends, but in the end it is your decision as a board on what you do, who you interview and who you hire,” Sutton said to the board.
The board has asked the committee to provide 3-5 recommendations, listed in alphabetical order rather than being ranked.
The board laid out the criteria for the committee to look for as follows:
- Be an innovative and motivational leader with strong proven leadership and a record of improving student achievement.
- Have administrative experience and be an instructional leader who is committed to college and career readiness.
- Be student-centered with a knowledge of curriculum and assessments.
- Become an active member of our community and have effective skills to communicate with staff, students and parents.
- Possess characteristics of honesty, strong morals, and ethics.
- Understand the multiple facets of the superintendent role, including personnel law, finance, building and grounds, as well as the Kentucky Education System.
Board Chairman James Morgan will serve as the board’s representative on the screening committee. During the joint meeting, he stressed the importance of finding a candidate that meets all the criteria.
“We have an outstanding superintendent right now,” he said. “So our expect expectations are very high for the next person to fill that role. We want (the screening committee) to look at all the things that we mentioned tonight, and keep those in mind because this is goning to be the next leader for Daviess County Public Schools.”
The screening committee includes the following members:
- James Morgan, DCPS board chair
- Dr. Tricia Murphy, Whitesville Elementary principal (elected by district principals)
- Valerie Jones, Daviess County Middle School Assistant Principal (elected by district teachers)
- Mendy Rue, College View Middle School teacher (elected by district teachers)
- Karen Briner, Apollo High School classified staff (elected by district classified staff)
- Corey King, parent (elected by the presidents of the schools’ PTOs)
- Beth Ewing, minority parent (elected by all parents)
The first screening committee meeting was held immediately following the joining meeting with the school board on Tuesday. In their first meeting, the committee is tasked with opening the applications and understanding the procedure for initial screening.
Their second meeting, to be held on March 5, will involve choosing applicants for background and reference checks along with beginning those checks. Their third meeting, to be held on March 18, will be to finalize a list of 3-5 candidates to recommend to the board.
In another joint meeting with the school board on March 21, the screening committee will present their recommendations. The board will interview candidates March 25-29.
The board’s goal is to name a superintendent by April 15, but Morgan said that date was tentative.
“That could vary,” he said. “We may do it sooner, we may do it later. It depends on how the process goes.”
