Deputy Hamilton County School Supt. Rick Smith is among six finalists for the job of replacing Supt. Jesse Register.
Dr. Charles Lindsey, Knox County superintendent, is also in the running along with Dr. Michael Martin, superintendent of Putnam County Schools in Cookeville.
Others in the running are Dr. Bruce Harter, superintendent of the Brandywine School District in Claymont, Del.; Dr. Steve Wilmoth, superintendent of Liberty County Schools in Hinesville, Ga., and Dr. Jim Scales, deputy superintendent for administrative services for the Dallas Independent School District at College Station, Tex.
An advisory committee will pare the list down to three, and the County School Board will make the final choice.
Members of the panel are Tom Kinser, chairman; and Zan Guerry, Maxine Cousin, Ron Fugatt, Sandy Hughes, Dan Challener, Don Warrington, Russell Gilbert and County Commission Chairman Larry Henry.
The advisory panel will interview candidates starting Friday at 3:15 p.m. at the Bonny Oaks central office.
Three candidates are to be interviewed on Friday and the remainder starting at 7:15 a.m. on Saturday. The panel is to make its decision late Saturday afternoon.
Here is the interview schedule:
Friday
3:15 p.m. Rick Smith
5:45 p.m. Jim Scales
8:00 p.m. Charles Lindsey
Saturday
7:15 a.m. Michael Martin
9:45 a.m. Steve Wilmoth
1:00 p.m. Bruce Harter
Rick Smith was formerly middle school director and was principal at Loftis Middle School and East Ridge Middle School. He started out as a teacher at Druid Hills High School in DeKalb County, Ga., then taught at Soddy-Daisy High School before moving to assistant principal at Soddy-Daisy High.
He is the only one of the candidates without a doctorate.
Dr. Lindsey was superintendent of Catoosa County Schools from 1981-1986, then moved on to head the school system at Summerville, S.C., before taking the Knox County post in 1999. Knox County enrollment is 53,000 with an annual budget of $410 million.
Dr. Martin has been at Putnam County for six years. Earlier, he was director of educational leadership at Auburn University and superintendent of the Auburn City Schools. Before that he was superintendent of the Marysville School District in Washington state and the Fort Campbell Schools in Kentucky. He also was superintendent at Fountain, Colo.
Dr. Wilmoth has been at the Liberty County Schools for five years. He previously was superintendent at Fort Gibson, Okla., and Fairland, Okla.
Dr. Harter has been at Brandywine School District for five years. It has 10,700 students and a budget of $123 million.
Dr. Scales, who is the only black candidate, has been in his current position since 2001. He previously was area superintendent at Tulsa, Okla.
The County School Board has set meetings to make the final selection.
Board members are to visit the home district of their choice prior to the April 20 vote.
The Superintendent Search Advisory Committee will meet in the Board
Room at 6703 Bonny Oaks Dr. as follows:
Friday, March 3 3:15
Interview Candidates
Saturday, March 4 7:45 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Interview Candidates
Deliberation
Selection of Finalists
The Hamilton County Board of Education will meet in the board room
at 6703 Bonny Oaks Dr. as follows:
Monday, March 6 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. Interview Training
Thursday, March 9 5:00 – 6:30 p.m. Budget Work Session
Friday, March 10 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Interview Candidate
Saturday, March 11 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Interview Candidates
Discussion
The Hamilton County Board of Education will meet at 3 p.m. on
Thursday, March 16, to identify the final candidate for superintendent. The place for this meeting will be announced.
The Hamilton County Board of Education will meet in quarterly session on Thursday, March 16, at 5 p.m. in the auditorium at Tyner
Academy.