Jackson Free Press

Jackson Public Schools could have a new superintendent as early as the middle of 2012. Representatives from Ray and Associates, the consulting firm that will lead the search for the new superintendent, presented the board with a suggested timeline Wednesday, Dec. 14.

Bill Newman, executive director of the firm, said it is entirely up to the board how it conducts the search, however.

"Although we will advise you along the way, this will be your search," he said.

The suggested timeline calls for establishing a profile of the ideal candidate early on and soliciting input from community members and stakeholders in the district in early January.

Right now, JPS is surveying parents, teachers, students and community members about the qualities they would like to see in a new superintendent. JPS posted the survey on its website, jackson.k12.ms.us, and at surveymonkey.com/s/PDR66LV, and plans to make it available until Jan. 12.

The board-appointed Community Advisory Committee has already begun meeting to discuss what qualifications they want to see in a new superintendent. Jonathan Larkin, a former board member who is on the committee, said members have formed a subcommittee to write a superintendent's job description that the committee can then take to the board.

Newman said the next step in the process would be the recruiting phase, which the consultants expect to go until March 7, to solicit applications. He said they are tentatively looking at March 21 to bring a list of about a dozen top candidates to the board for consideration.

"It is our intention that by the middle of April, you will have identified a new superintendent," Newman told the board.

Board members could revise the superintendent search timeline, although most were at the December presentation, and Newman said they approved the timeline then. Larkin said the school board and search firm have many options as to how far afield they want to go to look for a new superintendent. Some on the committee have said they would like to see someone hired from within the district, but part of the rationale for hiring Ray and Associates was that the firm has experience conducting nationwide searches.

Larkin was on the board in 2008 when it hired Lonnie Edwards as superintendent using a consultant from within the state.

"We did not get a lot of interest from outside the region, unfortunately," he said.

Interim Superintendent Jayne Sargent's contract expires in July. The board hired her after voting not to renew Edwards' contract last winter. Edwards appealed the decision, leading to a legal dispute that left little time to search for his replacement.