Russell County superintendent vacancy: 15 applicants meet minimum requirements
The superintendent vacancy in the Russell County School District has attracted interest from 72 prospective candidates, and 15 of them meet the minimum qualifications and submitted complete applications by the Aug. 31 deadline, board president Keith Mitchell said Thursday night.
"People must feel like we're a pretty stable system for that many to be interested in coming to work here," Mitchell said after he released the candidates' names following the Russell County Board of Education's work session and called meeting. It was the first time board members saw the list of names, he said.
Three of the candidates submitted paper copies of their applications. Copies of the other 12 were emailed and not available at the meeting. Mitchell said board members will go to the district office to view the copies when they are printed.
"Then we'll decide whether we want to do any interviews or move on to the next phase and extend an offer to someone," Mitchell said.
That someone is interim superintendent Brenda Coley. Mitchell said last month that the consensus of the board was to encourage her to apply for the permanent position - and she did.
Coley is a 1984 graduate of Russell County High School. She has 27 years of experience as an educator in the system. She became interim superintendent when Mike Green resigned May 1 without a public explanation. She was the district's administrative services director for 1½ years and principal of Oliver Elementary for nine years. Her other previous positions include assistant principal and teacher at Ladonia Elementary.
After earning education degrees at Auburn University (bachelor's and master's) and Troy University (specialist's), Coley completed her doctorate in administrative leadership this spring through Walden University's online program.
Along with Coley, the other two candidates who submitted paper copies of their application are:
Rickey Edmond, the principal of Macon County (Ga.) High School for the past 12 years.
Mark Petersen, most recently superintendent of the Greenwood County School District 52 in Ninety Six, S.C., from 2009 until July 2015.
The current or former positions of the 12 other applicants weren't available:
Donald Black of the 205 area code in Alabama.
Wayne Dansby of the 205 area code Alabama.
Michele Eller of the 334 area code Alabama.
Mark Gabryiczyk of Idaho.
Leslie Gamble of Mobile, Ala.
Georgia Gary of Dothan, Ala.
Millard Hicks of Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Jeremy Madden of Fayette, Ala.
Jay Paschall of Loganville, Ga.
Joe Toomey of the 251 area code in Alabama.
Charles Weeks of the 334 area code in Alabama.
Jack West of Tennessee.
According to the board's job announcement, the minimum requirements say the superintendent must:
Hold or be in the process of earning a valid six-year certificate in administration and supervision issued by the Alabama State Department of Education.
Have no less than five years of successful educational experience as a classroom teacher and as an administrator or supervisor.
Meet background clearance as specified by Alabama statutes and state board of education regulations.
The salary range is from $95,000 to $125,000 per year.
Any superintendent interview the board conducts will be open to the public, Mitchell said.
According to Alabama law, boards of education that fail to fill their superintendent vacancy within 180 days shall have their state funding withheld until one is hired, unless the state superintendent determines the board "exhibits good faith and reasonable effort in progress toward selecting a superintendent."
That means Oct. 28 is the deadline for Russell County to hire its next superintendent.
Mark Rice, 706-576-6272. Follow him on Twitter@MarkRiceLE.
This story was originally published September 10, 2015 at 10:05 PM with the headline "Russell County superintendent vacancy: 15 applicants meet minimum requirements ."