JPS board pauses supe search, might resume in 5 months
The bid to find the next school leader for Mississippi's second largest school district might see little traction for the next five months.
The Jackson Public Schools Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to suspend the search for a new superintendent, electing instead to re-up the process in the upcoming school year. In the meantime, interim superintendent Freddrick Murray will hold his current position.
The move is a departure from the board’s original timeline to have a permanent school chief in place by July 1 and ultimately came as a sort of concession to avoid a complete standstill.
In January, the board voted to launch a national search for the district’s next leader, issuing a request for proposal for consulting services. The board pulled the proposal for revisions, but voted 3-2 Tuesday not to reissue the document.
Board President Beneta Burt, who along with Camille Stutts Simms voted in favor of sending out a new RFP, expressed dismay over the outcome, saying it left trustees without “a mechanism for a search firm.”
“It’s not the worst thing in the world to hold off on the RFP process,” countered board member Jed Oppeinheim. He then proffered, as he had in the past, that the community could lead the search. He brought forward a motion that would allow for just that, but it failed to get a second.
Burt posited that time to fill the vacancy was waning. She explained that potential applicants were likely already weighing decisions for the next school year.
"We’re already late in my estimation," she said. "To keep moving the ball down the ball a bit does not make sense to me." Waiting to take action until the next board meeting scheduled for March 7, she suggested, would only further delay the process.
Former superintendent Cedrick Gray resigned last November amid JPS receiving a failing academic rating and the reveal of safety, teaching and discipline violations by the state Department of Education that landed the 27,000 student district on probation. In the ensuing months, efforts to find his successor have hinged on volleying actions among the school board, that at times showed a struggle to reach consensus.
Sims drew a parallel between the board's impasse and the concerns that state education officials have expressed about the district seeming to lack urgency in correcting deficiencies found during an accreditation audit.
"We need to set our course. We can not sit in limbo," Sims said. "We’re not going to be sitting here and stirring the soup everyday. We’ve got to move the school district forward.”
Sims then made a motion to keep Murray in place until the conclusion of the 2017-18 school year and to seek the community's input on how to move forward, which passed 3-1. Sims, Burt and Kodi Hobbs voted for the measure, while Oppeinheim was the sole member in opposition. Vice-president Ricky Jones abstained. Members Richard Lind and Kimberly Campbell were not present.
After the vote, Burt expressed that she was still in favor of hiring a search firm going forward.
State officials have said the district does not face a deadline to find a permanent leader. Board attorney Dorian Turner has indicated in the past that searches can take between two-three months or half a year.
Contact Bracey Harris at 601-961-7248 or bharris2@gannett.com . Follow her on Twitter .