Columbus City Schools superintendent search: What to know as selection appears near
With the Columbus City Schools Board of Education conducting final interviews Monday for superintendent Monday, the selection of one of three finalists could come as soon as this week.
The district is searching for a new school chief executive after outgoing Superintendent Talisa Dixon announced in December that she would be retiring at the end of the current academic year.
Here's what you need to know:
Special, regular meeting scheduled for Tuesday
On Monday afternoon, the school board held a special meeting and immediately went into executive session to interview superintedent finalists. The board has also scheduled a special executive session for 4 p.m. Tuesday "to consider the appointment, employment, or compensation of public employees" before their regular meeting scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at Mifflin High School on Columbus' Northeast Side.
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In addition, the school board plans to go into executive session during a special meeting scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday at the district's Downtown administrative office at 270 E. State St.
Who are the candidates?
Last month, the Columbus City school board announced three finalists for the open superintendent position, including Angela Chapman, the district's current interim superintendent. The other finalists are Brian McDonald, superintendent of the Pasadena Unified School District in California, and George (Eric) Thomas, associate superintendent for Minneapolis Public Schools.
At a public forum last week, the three finalists fielded questions in a moderated format and shared their leadership styles and why they want the job in Columbus leading Ohio's largest school district.
Five takeaways from public forum with CCS superintendent finalists: What they said
Thomas addresses mismanagement allegations
During the public forum, Thomas took several opportunities to address recent media reports about the settlement with the Georgia State Board of Education in 2020. From 2017 to 2020, Thomas served as "chief turnaround officer" for the Georgia State Board of Education, in which he was tasked with working with the worst-performing schools in the state.
A 2020 letter from then-Georgia Inspector General Deborah Wallace to Board of Education Chairman Scott Sweeney claims that Thomas' office was "mismanaged" and "policies and procedures in place were routinely ignored" by Thomas, The Dispatch previously reported. However, Thomas pointed to a cash settlement with the state and shared a separate letter from the Georgia Attorney General's Office saying it could find no evidence to prosecute him.
During the forum, Thomas pointed to successes he had during his time in the chief turnaround officer position, saying 70% of the schools he worked with achieved "their highest results ever."
"That experience also gave me a really strong understanding of the political nature of a lot of things," Thomas said. "Quite honestly, Georgia is somewhat similar to Ohio."
Who is running the search?
Columbus City school board approved paying a total of $250,000 to be handled by the Taft Stettinius & Hollister law firm, which has offices in Columbus, to assist in finding the next chief executive for the district.
That included costs for Ray & Associates, a Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based firm that specializes in school executive leadership searches, and Fahlgren Mortine, a Columbus-based marketing firm, to assist in the search.
All applications were submitted directly to Ray & Associates, and the firm had prescreened the total 31 applicants before presenting them to the board. Each application was screened based on their administrative experience, academic backgrounds, and input from the community and the board, according to a release.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus school board may select superintendent this week: what to know
