Petersburg chooses Illinois firm to steer search for next school superintendent
PETERSBURG — The School Board is shedding light on the process for finding the city’s next school superintendent.
Monday, the school system announced it has hired the Illinois-based education search firm BWP Associates to vet the applications and recommend candidates to succeed Dr. Tamara Sterling, who officially stepped down last month, but the circumstances surrounding her departure remain cloaked in mystery.
In a statement, School Board chair Kenneth Pritchett said BWP will work with school officials “to ensure that the best candidate is identified.”
According to its website, BWP has conducted more than 800 executive-level searches across the country.
“We are honored to be selected for this critical search,” Dr. Kevin Castner, co-coordinator of the Petersburg search, said in the school system statement. “Petersburg City Public Schools has a rich history and a bright future. We have worked with the division before and are committed to conducting a thorough search that identifies a visionary leader who will build upon the district's successes and ensure all students have the opportunity to thrive.”
Castner and colleague Wayne Harris will outline the search process at the School Board’s May 15 meeting. Two weeks later, they will lead community forums and systemwide meetings to gauge input on what citizens and school staff want in their next leader.
The job announcement on the BWP website sets a June 16 deadline for applications to be submitted. It says the new superintendent should be in place by Aug. 1.
That differs, though, from the July 1 starting date given at the end of the annoucement. The end also gives that July 1 date as being in 2019.
Sterling’s abrupt departure from Petersburg last February after 14 months on the job fueled speculation about her relationship with the School Board.
The School Board waited one week after she left town to acknowledge Sterling was gone, but the two sides differed on her exact status. Pritchett said she was placed on administrative leave for a yet-to-be-disclosed reason, but Sterling indicated on her LinkedIn business profile that she made a clean break and was now calling herself an “independent education professional.”
The following month, the board and Sterling jointly announced that she would resign effective April 30. Her resignation letter was cited in the announcement, but the school system has refused The Progress-Index's Freedom of Information Act requests for a copy of the letter. The system claims the letter is exempt from FOIA because it contained identifiable information about other school personnel.
The system also denied a second request for the letter with that personnel information redacted.
Dr. John Farrelly, the system’s chief of staff and a former North Carolina school superintendent, is running daily operations until the permanent successor is named. He has given no indication he intends to apply for the job.
Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI.
This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Illinois firm will coordinate search for Petersburg superintendent
