The Bibb County, Ga., School District has backed off their attempt to hire Pine Bluff Police Chief Brenda Davis-Jones.
Donald Porter, the director of public relations for the district, said Thursday that Superintendent Romain Dallemand has announced that Davis-Jones is “no longer a candidate for police chief for the school district.”
Davis-Jones’ name was also removed from a list on the district’s website of “New Administrators for the 2012-2013 School Year.”
Dallamand had recommended Davis-Jones for the position and that recommendation was approved by the district’s board of directors in July.
The Bibb County School District operates 45 schools and has an enrollment of 24,968 students and according to their website, 14 candidates applied for the position and the selection process included reviews of applications, screenings and interviews with a panel of district personnel, public safety supervisors and officials.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Porter said Stephanie Prather, who has been interim chief for the district, “will continue to run the day-to-day operations until a new chief is selected.”
On Saturday, PBPD spokesman Capt. Greg Shapiro quoted Davis-Jones as saying she had not been offered or accepted a job with the school district “and continues to serve as the chief of police for the Pine Bluff Police Department.”
Mayor Carl A. Redus Jr. has said several times that the police news release issued by Shapiro reflected the city’s position on the matter.
Before taking the job as police chief in Pine Bluff in 2010 after Redus fired former chief John Howell, Davis-Jones was the chief of police/director of environmental safety at Fort Valley State University in Fort Valley, Ga., and before that, worked for the Macon, Ga., Police Department, where she attained the rank of major in charge of the Youth and Intervention Services Division.
Macon is located in Bibb County.
A call to Davis-Jones seeking comment was not returned Thursday.