CMS board won’t conduct superintendent interviews in public. Here’s why.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ board is interviewing six superintendent candidates in closed session — a move that has drawn criticism from some in the community, but is also backed by legal precedent.

Charles Jeter, executive director of government affairs, policy and board services for CMS, told The Charlotte Observer that board members have received phone calls and emails since virtual interviews began Friday, with some residents wondering why the BOE is not conducting interviews in open session.

In exclusive interviews with the Observer, Jeter, school board Chair Elyse Dashew and Summer Nunn, chair of the superintendent search committee, explained why the public can’t be involved in the interview process.

What’s the status of the superintendent search?

The district officially kicked off its superintendent search on Jan. 2 when board members adopted a search timeline. Since then, the board has hired consultant BWP & Associates to oversee the search, conduct dozens of community engagement sessions, create a leadership profile of who the next superintendent should be, and open and close the application window.

BWP & Associates narrowed the applicant pool to the six semi-finalists. It is this group of candidates the board began interviewing over the weekend. Interviews will continue this week and are being conducted virtually and in closed session.

CMS isn’t releasing the candidate names nor conducting interviews in public. Can they do that? Shouldn’t the public be able to see these interviews?

Nunn said the board’s legal counsel has been clear that board members are following the law.

Leanne Winner, the executive director of the North Carolina School Board Association, confirmed that superintendent applications are considered a confidential personnel record under the state’s Personnel Records Law 115C-319. Winner added that the N.C. Supreme Court affirmed confidentiality in the 1992 case Elkin Tribune v. Yadkin County Board of County Commissioners.

“CMS cannot release these names without getting approval from each individual candidate,” Winner said.

Winner said the law also makes it clear that interviews are not open, either, and are protected under the state’s Closed Session Law 143-318.11.

The UNC School of Government issued an opinion in 2014 confirming the required confidentiality of applicants and the interview process, stating “… the public has no right of access to any information about applicants.”

“Every search firm and every organization we talked with told us that candidates don’t want their names publicly revealed in this day and age, and doing so would weaken our applicant pool,” Nunn said. “Boston Public Schools had three finalists in their search and were going to release the names. Subsequently, two candidates withdrew from consideration rather than being named.”

Jeter says CMS has not conducted any personnel interviews in a public forum for decades.

“The reality is, I can’t find one example of any occasion when the board interviewed a candidate for any position that the public was allowed to witness,” Jeter said.

How many candidates applied and how many remain?

BWP & Associates told the board at its meeting April 4 that a total of 49 individuals applied from 18 states. Of those, 19 candidates currently are in superintendent roles, five are assistant superintendents, four candidates are principals, and three are business, community, or political leaders, among others.

From those 49 applications, BWP & Associates narrowed the field to the six semi-finalists.

“You’re going to struggle to come up with just one candidate because this was a stellar field,” said Debra Hill, the managing director of BWP.

Hill, who has been a consultant in educational executive searches for more than eight years, also told the Observer that applicants prefer a confidential process.

“The reality is that CMS received an exceptionally high quality of applicants due in large part to the confidential process the board has undertaken,” Hill said.

When will we know who the next superintendent is?

The board will wrap up first-round interviews on Thursday. During these interviews, the board will look at professional backgrounds, leadership roles and other factors, Dashew said.

“However, a proven track record of focusing on student outcomes and proven academic success is the priority,” Dashew said.

Once the interviews are completed, the board is expected to meet Friday to narrow the field to a group of two or three finalists.

Board members will conduct in-person interviews with the finalists the week of May 1. After those interviews, the board believes it will be in position to hire the superintendent and make the announcement at the meeting May 9, Jeter said.