Because I have terrible time management skills and, currently, writer’s block on my class-assigned paper topic, I want to lay out the history of Charlotteville superintendents for the past few years, since I found a little back reading to help get a sense of how we got where we are today.
- 10/19/2001: Bill Symons, superintendent since 1996, announces his intention to retire in June of 2002.
- 05/01/2002: The school board announces that they have three finalists to replace Symons, whose retirement is 60 days away. Those are Jean Murray, Albemarle’s assistant superintendent for instruction; James Bughsley, deputy superintendent for Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Schools in North Carolina; and Kriner Cash, superintendent for Martha’s Vineyards Public Schools. Two of the three candidates are black, which is noteworthy because there is pressure on the board to appoint a black superintendent. A decision is due in five days.
- 05/25/2002: Cash, the board’s stated #1 pick, declines the offer.
- 05/29/2002: Pughsley, the board’s stated #2 pick, accepts the job of superintendent in Charlotte, NC. Murray, the board’s last choice, withdraws her application. Now there are no candidates.
- 06/14/2002: Murray leaves her job to become superintendent of the Stafford County school system.
- 06/27/2002: City Council refuses reappointment for all three school board members whose terms are ending, appointing Peggy Van Yahres, Michael Heard, and Bill Igbani. This clean sweep was said to be a result of the board’s bungling of the superintendent hiring process.
- 08/19/2002: Ron Hutchenson, who had been named as a stand-in until the board could name a superintendent, is hired on a two-year basis, giving the board some breathing room to hire a new superintendent.
- 05/27/2004: Dr. Scottie Griffin is named superintendent.
I have now read and written the word “superintendent” so many times that it’s lost all meaning to me.
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