Alexandria School Board to Hold Special Meeting on June 2
By Carla Branch and Rebecca Newsham
alexandrianews.org
Alexandria City Public Schools
As all Alexandria awaited the announcement of the hiring of a new superintendent, scheduled for tonight, the School Board released a statement just after 3 p.m. stating that the Board has called a special meeting for Monday, June 2, for the announcement. According to the statement, Board Chair Claire Eberwein continues contract negotiations with the Board’s chosen candidate.
Unlike the last round of superintendent interviews, this selection process has been shrouded in secrecy. In April, the Board severed their relationship Ray and Associates, the search firm that was hired last summer to conduct a search for the new superintendent of the Alexandria City Public School system. During that process, the Board interviewed several candidates, selected three finalists and conducted site visits before determining that none of the finalists was suitable. The Board hired Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates to conduct an expedited search.
On May 5, the Board met with representatives from Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates and, according to a previously published timeline, was presented with at least three “excellent” candidates. Again, according to a previously published timeline, the Board then conducted interviews, made site visits and made a decision by today.
The meeting on Monday night is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Prior to that meeting, the Board has scheduled a meeting at 7 p.m. with the Superintendent Search Advisory Committee, the 26-member citizen panel that participated in the search process.
T.C. Principal Search Begins
Earlier this month, Dr. Mel Riddile surprised everyone by submitting his resignation as principal of T.C. Williams High School, effective July 1. He leaves T.C. after only two years to join the staff of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Since hiring the new principal is the purview of the superintendent, parents and staff alike have wondered about the selection process.
On Tuesday, Interim Superintendent Bill Symons released the following timeline:
- Advertise position in Education Week and selected newspapers
June 4-20 (closing date for applying) - Meet with teaching and support staff at T.C. to review process.
ASAP - Formulate resume screening panel to reduce applicants to the best candidates to be interviewed.
ASAP - Screen applications and resumes.
June 24 - Receive recommendations from Dr. Riddile for parent and staff membership on interview panel.
ASAP - Select appropriate central office staff to participate in interview panel.
ASAP - Set up interviews for one or two days at site TBD.
June 25-27 - Orient interview panel one hour in advance of commencing interviews. The interviews will be structured and results will be kept confidential.
July 7 - I will formulate questions to be used for the interviews.
ASAP - Conduct interviews and make recommendations for finalists to be interviewed by Superintendent.
Week of July 7 - Superintendent interviews finalists.
Week of July 14 - Final recommendation to School Board.
July 24