Hickory Public Schools has completed its first round of interviews of superintendent candidates and is narrowing down the field of applicants.
Hickory Public Schools’ Board of Education Chairman Joab Cotton would not give the exact number of candidates the school system has received, saying it’s only “more than average.”
When previous superintendent Lillie Cox was named Hickory Public Schools’ superintendent in May 2009, the system said there were 26 applicants for the position. When Catawba County Schools hired a new superintendent when Tim Markley left in September 2010, 24 people applied, according to the school system’s attorney.
Hickory Public Schools conducted interviews of the superintendent candidates over three days about a week-and-a-half ago, Cotton said. Most of the candidates were from within North Carolina.
“We’re very pleased with the number and the quality of candidates,” Cotton said.
Cotton said the board hopes to weed out a fewer than half the candidates now that the first round of interviews are complete, and conduct a second round of interviews before Labor Day on Sept. 5.
After the next interviews, the board will narrow the applicants down to three.
Cox, the system’s previous superintendent, began July 2009 and left exactly two years later. Cotton said there is no way to guarantee the next superintendent will stay longer than she did.
“We asked the question the last time of how long they’ll stay,” Cotton said. “It’s the nature of the business. Any superintendent can leave at any time. The state average is five years (at a system).”
The school board had initially said it hoped to have a superintendent in place by Nov. 1. Cotton said it will depend on the second round of interviews for when the superintendent will be selected.
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