After voting to make Dr. Nakia Townsend the interim schools superintendent, the Hamilton County School Board decided to table any discussion of compensation and whether to launch a national search for Dr. Bryan Johnson’s permanent successor until after the Hamilton County Commission decides on who will fill the currently unoccupied District 9 seat on the board.
That seat was left vacant when Dr.
Steve Highlander was appointed to fill the seat on the Commission left vacant when Chester Bankston resigned to move to Florida to be near his family.
It appeared most board members favored an internal search over another national search for a new superintendent. District 2 representative Marco Perez spoke first saying he was impressed with the internal candidates for the interim position and that he “was not looking to do a big expensive national search only to end up with an internal hire.” Mr. Perez said he was interested "in investing in our own people."
District 1 member Rhonda Thurman, who has already come out in support of Chief Schools Officer Justin Robertson, was quick to agree with Mr. Perez. She said, “We need to look internally first. Our teachers need stability.” The fiscally-minded Thurman went on to say, “We don’t need to be spending lots of money on a search."
Board Vice Chairman and District 8 member Tucker McClendon also was in favor of not having a big search, saying his most critical area of concern was a quick timeline. He said he was in favor of doing something this semester.
Joe Smith, from District 3, was also very much in favor of an internal candidate. He made mention of the fact that, to him, it seemed like every time a major position within Hamilton County came up there had to be a national search. Mr. Smith concluded his remarks by saying, “I’m not so sure that he or she isn’t already right here. We owe the public our best to do the right job.”
District 5 representative Karitsa Jones readily agreed, saying, “We have a lot of internal candidates."
The only board member who professed a willingness to launch a search outside the county was District 6’s Jenny Hill. Hill said she could “go either way.” In her opinion it gave the board the opportunity to be proactive as to where “we want to be in five years.” Ms. Hill said she hoped the next superintendent would be here for more than five years.
The District 9 representative is scheduled to be chosen by the members of the County Commission at their Aug. 4 meeting. Should that happen the new board member would likely be sworn in that day.
The next meeting of the School Board is set for August 19 with a work session scheduled for the 16. Mr. Smith put forth the idea that every day in this process is an important one and proposed a special called meeting prior to the next regularly scheduled meeting.
That meeting was set for Thursday, Aug. 12, at 5:30 p.m.,