NLR has 5 suitors to steer schools

Interviews next in board’s quest

The North Little Rock School Board decided Monday to interview five candidates next week for the district’s superintendent position.

The search firm of Ray and Associates Inc. met with the School Board in a special meeting Monday and presented nine candidates. The board narrowed the list after reviewing resumes and watching candidate videos.

The five candidates are:

■ Adrienne Bland, assistant superintendent at Ferguson-Florissant School District in Missouri.

■ Lloyd Jackson, assistant superintendent at Kansas City Public Schools in Missouri.

■ Keith McGee, interim superintendent of the North Little Rock School District.

■ Gregory Pilewski, deputy superintendent at Queen Anne’s County School District in Maryland.

■ John Tharpe, executive director at Hamilton County Schools in Tennessee.

The candidates will do in-person interviews Aug. 10. Carl Davis, regional search director for Ray and Associates, said the interviews will probably last 45 minutes to an hour.

Davis said the community will be able to interview candidates virtually during the final round of the search process. He said only one of the nine original candidates is currently a superintendent.

“We got some strong deputies, assistants and executive directors,” Davis said. “They can all talk to teachers and parents and bring groups together.”

School Board President Dorothy Williams asked Davis if it was possible to delay paring down the candidate list an additional day to give board members who work during the day an opportu

nity to review the packet more thoroughly.

“We got these resumes five hours ago,” Williams said. “Basically, for me to see a three-minute video and try to rate someone … I would just like the process to be fair and equitable for all of the candidates.”

Davis said it was important that the board make a decision Monday to keep the process intact.

“Next week will also be extensive as well,” he said. “For example, if we have five candidates, then the [interview] process will be five hours. It will be a problem for a little bit, and I am sorry.”

Board members voted to move forward with the review process. The executive session lasted about four hours.

“I am fine with moving forward, but I wish we had received the information earlier,” board member Tracy Steele said. “I feel like the rush might be a mistake. I think we need the information in the future much earlier.

Board member Rochelle Redus wasn’t present Monday, which means she can’t participate in the rest of the superintendent search. Davis said the firm reached out to Redus and she confirmed that because of work she wouldn’t be able to participate.

“We must have the same number of board members who start the process, because legally we will run into trouble if we don’t,” Davis said.

The School Board voted unanimously last month to use Ray and Associates to assist in the search for a new superintendent for the 8,000-student district.

Board members voted 4-2 in favor of setting the salary at about $200,000 in June. Davis and Ryan Ray, the search firm’s president, originally asked School Board members if the salary could be increased to $215,000.

The board voted April 23 to immediately terminate the contract of Bobby Acklin, who served as interim superintendent before becoming the district’s full-time leader in July 2018.

The move came after the School Board evaluated Acklin’s performance in January and voted to extend his contract — which was set to expire June 30 — to June 30, 2021.

Comments made by Acklin in an audio file sent to board members by the high school principal were among the issues that led to the termination, officials said.

The School Board voted 7-0 in May to appoint McGee as interim superintendent.