MSCS board members discuss qualifications for superintendent during retreat

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - We are getting closer to knowing when the Memphis Shelby County School Board will announce a new superintendent.

At the M-S-C-S retreat today, board members hashed out qualifications for the next superintendent of Memphis Shelby County Schools, citing that the candidate must be a strong academic visionary, have the ability to positively impact the culture and climate, and have strategic leadership and finance experience.

Those are just some of the qualifications the board would like to see in the next superintendent.

The board said they want to hold the hiring firm accountable for the things that they are asking for.

“As we are also looking at the evaluation that we use for the superintendent, it helps us to mirror the things that we are asking for during this process. We are not evaluating them on something we never discussed,” Althea Greene, MSCS Chair.

With these changes, the board still has to decide if they will open up the pool to new candidates or keep the current pool, meaning keeping every applicant that’s applied and re-evaluating them.

“If you don’t have the right questions, there will be a bunch of people that get through because they are not asking the right questions,” said Tomeka Hart Wigginton, former board member, and volunteer facilitator.

If the board decides to keep the current pool of candidates, the timeline for getting a new superintendent tightens.

If they open the application process up again that timeline could be longer.

As the process moves forward the board said there must be a plan in place to keep all board members informed in writing.

“Here is what we are going to do here is who is responsible for this here is how they are going to do it. Step by step so that we are all on the same page but also the community knows what we are doing,” said Sheleah Harris, Vice-chair.

Action items for next Tuesday include voting on the final qualifications, keeping the current pool or re-open the application process, and discussing Policy 1003 which includes years of experience for the next superintendent.

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