Atlanta school board members finished the last of five private interviews with candidates to become the city's next superintendent Saturday but walked away without saying whether any of them were good enough to become finalists for the job.
The silence for the first time puts the board at odds with its announced time line for choosing a new leader, with no indication whether this is a small hiccup or significant problem. Departing city schools Superintendent Beverly Hall leaves June 30, and members, in accordance with a state-mandated 14-day waiting period, would have needed to announce finalists Saturday to meet their schedule of naming a successor June 25.
"The board is still deliberating," Vice Chairwoman Cecily Harsch-Kinnane said. She added that the board would also not make any announcement Monday at its next scheduled meeting.
The names of the five candidates were first unveiled to board members Monday behind closed doors. The board's search firm, Illinois-based Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, had said more than 45 people applied for the job, a higher turnout than expected. There have also been notable superintendent vacancies nationwide, including in Newark, N.J., Louisville, Ky., and, most recently, Detroit and Charlotte.
Members kept those names secret in preparation for a crucial stage in their search: face-to-face interviews held Friday night and Saturday. Going into the meetings, board Chairman Khaatim Sherrer El said members had no guarantee candidates identified to the board now would ultimately be a good fit for the job.
According to the board's stated plans, it will publicly announce the names of three finalists and hold public meet-and-greets for each before conducting a final round of interviews and picking a superintendent.
Additionally, with Hall departing in less than three weeks, board members acknowledged last week that they will need an interim leader to fill the gap between when she leaves and when her replacement starts. Who the interim will be -- and how long he or she will hold the job -- remains to be seen.
The interim's roll, however, will be important: It will likely be his or her responsibility to help the board deal with the conclusion of a 10-month state probe into tampering of student achievement tests, which is expected to be released as soon as this month. In a videotaped farewell address to district employees, Hall acknowledged educators cheated and said the findings of the criminal investigation will be "alarming."
Additionally, the school district's accrediting agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, placed the board on probation in January because of poor governance. The board faces a state-imposed deadline of July 1 to at least show some improvement. It faces a Sept. 30 deadline imposed by the agency to show substantial improvement or face the loss of accreditation.
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