The Jefferson Davis County school board called a special meeting last
Thursday to discuss the plan for the superintendent position and how
to move forward.
Items on the agenda were the discussion of the superintendent’s
evaluation and the superintendent appointment process.
For the first time, aside from filling temporary mid-term vacancies,
the Jefferson Davis County superintendent will be appointed, not
elected.
Gov. Phil Bryant signed the appointed superintendents bill into law in 2016.
“This is the first time in the State of Mississippi that we have been
allowed to appoint a superintendent and I feel like whatever happens
this time will set a precedent for future appointments, said District
1 board member Terri Stamps.
“I would like to set the bar high and begin the process and handle
this in the right manner.”
Superintedents are required to have an evaluation done each year.
The board chose to use the MSBA superintendent evaluation instrument
to aid in their evaluation of Jefferson Davis County Superintendent
Will Russell.
Russell’s elected term ends December 2019.
“As of Jan.1, 2020, the Jefferson Davis County School Board of
Education will be in need of a superintendent for our school district
due to the fact the elected term that the current superintendent holds
will expire,” said District 4 board member Shonda Ard Kelly.
“As such, I move and make the motion that we engage in the search
process and advertise immediately to fill the position of school
superintendent for our school district.”
“I want to thank the current superintendent and I welcome him to be
part of the process if he so chooses.”
The board approved the motion is now in the active search process.
There is a superintendent search service that is available to the
board through the Mississippi School Boards Association for a fee, or
the board could handle the search on their own if they choose.