Antioch School Board, by consensus, narrows field of Superintendent candidates to one

By Allen Payton

At the Antioch School Board meeting, last night (Wednesday, May 25, 2016) Board President Diane Gibson-Gray read the following statement about the search for a new superintendent, when reporting out from the closed session, earlier that day:

“The Board has narrowed the search to a finalist but no decision on actual employment has been made until the completion of negotiations on the terms of employment. The final decision would come with approval of the new superintendent’s contract which should be scheduled on or before the June 22, 2016 Board meeting. No candidate names will be released pending agreement on the contract and review of any additional information that may come to the attention of the Board.

All those interviewed have been notified of developments which have occurred to date.

Negotiations with the finalist will occur between now and the Board meeting. The Board will ask its attorney to develop a proposed contract with Board President Diane Gibson-Gray and Board Member Debra Vinson.”

In a subseqent email from Gibson-Gray, she wrote “The board reached a consensus on a final candidate. There was no vote to report out.”

The name of the candidate was not released.

“Once the contract has been negotiated it will be placed on a regular meeting agenda for a vote in public,” Gibson-Gray added. “Until then, the candidate name is confidential.”

Newly appointed Trustee Alonzo Terry has not been included in the board meetings regarding the search for a new superintendent. He is expected to take his seat on the board at their next regular meeting on June 8, following the required 30 days of the provisional appointment period.

When asked how the board can reach a consensus without a vote and if that’s legal, Gibson-Gray responded in an email, “The process is conducted using our board attorney. Not being an attorney, I cannot tell you about the legality of a consensus without a vote.”

Board Member Debra Vinson, who was asked the same question, said Gibson-Gray had been chosen to speak for the board on the matter.

A request was made to Gibson-Gray for the Board’s attorney to provide a legal opinion on the issue. Check back for that update.


No Comments so far.

Leave a Reply