School board discusses upcoming superintendent search

JACKSON, Tenn. – On Thursday afternoon, the Jackson-Madison County School Board meeting provoked heated discussions, as members talk about the upcoming search for a new permanent superintendent.

Last week, Ray Washington was selected by the school board to serve as the interim superintendent. Washington will begin his role on July 1.

Washington says the board needs to work on their own relationship before the next step.

“Unity amongst themselves before going out to search for a superintendent. They kind of wanted to get their act together and lay the groundwork for what they wanted in a superintendent,” Washington said.

Members disagreed on the focus for the search, and if it was a good use of their time to hold meetings for those discussions.

Board chairman Kevin Alexander says the agreement on parameters for the search could take a long time.

“That could take us–if we have that done by August, I will be thrilled,” Alexander said.

“Their perspective is wide on both ends. Some feel like they should be more involved in decision making, others want to leave it up to the superintendent to do certain things,” Washington said.

Despite their disagreements, all the members eventually came to the same conclusion: they needed to change the job description of the future superintendent, and take their time with the decision.

“It’s all about students, it’s all about the community, and so we need to get ourselves out of it and be about that,” Washington said.