Russell County native is expected to be hired as school district's superintendent
Interim superintendent and Russell County native Brenda Coley will receive the permanent position when the Russell County Board of Education meets in a called meeting Thursday, if the vote goes according to plan.
The board has scheduled the meeting for 7:30 a.m. in the Russell County School District's central office, 506 14th St., in Phenix City.
The superintendent search isn't mentioned on the agenda, but board chairman Keith Mitchell confirmed Tuesday that the "employment" and "employment contract" items under the human resources section indeed are about filling the vacancy created five months ago, when Mike Green resigned without a public explanation.
Asked in a phone interview whether the board will vote on Coley to be the system's next leader, Mitchell told the Ledger-Enquirer, "We'll have a board member make the motion that we employ her as our superintendent."
And the chairman expects the seven-member board to unanimously approve the motion.
"I don't think I've heard any opposition," he said.
In fact, Coley has been on a smooth path toward the district's top job since she accepted the interim position in May. She is a popular choice among the staff, parents and community leaders as well, board members have said.
Coley is a 1984 graduate of Russell County High School. She has 27 years of experience as an educator in the system. 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.
Russell County's superintendent vacancy attracted interest from 72 prospective candidates, and 15 of them, including Coley, met the minimum qualification and submitted complete applications by the Aug. 31 deadline, Mitchell said last month.
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.
Mitchell also said last month that any superintendent interview the board conducts will be open to the public. The board didn't interview any candidates, Mitchell said Tuesday, "because we looked at those that applied, and I guess nobody on paper kind of stood out as a candidate that was going to be far greater than what we have."
Asked what stands out about Coley, the chairman said, "Just her being in the system and being kind of familiar with everything going on around here. We're not in a hard time, and we have some pretty seasoned board members in place, so we don't want to wait two to three months for somebody to get used to it here."
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. The board's next regular meeting is scheduled for Oct. 27, but the called meeting is necessary, Mitchell said, to meet another deadline set by the Alabama State Department of Education.
"They wanted us to have somebody in place by the 15th for some report due to the state," he said, adding that the report is related to the district's fiscal year that ended Oct. 1.
As for why the meeting time is early in the morning, Mitchell said it is the best time to assure a quorum.
Mark Rice, 706-576-6272. Follow him on Twitter@MarkRiceLE.
This story was originally published October 13, 2015 at 2:32 PM with the headline "Russell County native is expected to be hired as school district's superintendent ."