White Hall School Board members have interviewed two candidates for the job of interim superintendent.
These developments follow White Hall School District Superintendent Larry Smith’s impending retirement effective June 30. Smith said he needs to take care of family responsibilities. The school board accepted Smith’s upcoming retirement earlier in May.
White Hall School Board members Dr. Raymond Jones, Dr. Doug Coleman, Rebecca Pittillo, Connie Medsker, Scott Lockhart, Scott Ray and Roy Agee met in either executive session or closed session Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights. They interviewed Suzanne Bailey, who is currently the superintendent of the Lonoke Public School District; and Jim Loyd, a former superintendent of the Two Rivers School District and the Paris, Arkansas, School District.
Jones invited Assistant Superintendent of Transportation and Maintenance and Athletic Director Craig Dupuy, along with Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum/Instruction/Technology Dorothy Welch, to take part in the closed session on Tuesday night.
Jones said the board will be reviewing the candidates’ qualifications, leadership abilities, and team-building skills to determine whether to offer the job to either candidate. The board will determine the date that the new superintendent will start.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Jones expects the board will hire an interim superintendent in the next few weeks. The board will meet again at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 30, at 1020 West Holland Avenue in the White Hall School District Julius Brown Administration Building to continue the discussion.
“[The salary] will be negotiated with the next person,” Jones said.
Reached by phone Thursday, Smith said he had not talked with Jones other than to make sure the board members have a place to meet. As a result, he could not provide details about the board’s thinking.
His administrative assistant Beverly Beck has attended the meetings “just in case they took action,” Smith said.
“Once they make a decision, I have told the board I will work with that person,” Smith, who has a doctorate degree, said. “I will be available even in July and they can call me at any time. I am not going to put a time limit on my availability. I am not going to abandon them.”
“They have not hired a candidate yet,” Smith said. “They may have two or three meetings before they make a decision.”