In less than seven months, Kentucky’s largest school district will see its leader of the past several years step down, which means the clock is ticking to find a replacement capable of running the complex system.
On Wednesday, Jefferson County Board of Education members are set to vote on hiring a national firm that will lead the search for Superintendent Marty Pollio’s successor.
If the firm is hired as planned, the goal is to conduct a community survey on the ideal qualities of the next superintendent and post the application by Feb. 1, JCPS Board Chair Corrie Shull said Tuesday during the district’s superintendent search advisory committee’s first meeting.
The committee — comprised of 35 members representing different areas of the city — made recommendations on what that community survey should cover and how it should be disseminated.
Community members can expect to see it posted on the district’s website, JCPS families will receive it via email and texts and paper copies will be shared with different organizations that work with families, JCPS spokeswoman Carolyn Callahan said.
Responses to the survey will be used to craft the candidate application, Shull said.
Once the application is posted, the district’s screening committee will be tasked with vetting candidates before making recommendations on who to interview to the board. That committee, designed by state law, will have up to seven members (a seventh member will only be added if needed to ensure minority representation).
The hope is to conduct interviews in May and to execute a contract in June before Pollio’s last day on July 1.
If a selection isn’t made by then, board members will be tasked with appointing an interim superintendent who will serve until a permanent superintendent is found. Pollio was first appointed as an interim in 2017 before being hired permanently for the role the following year.
Krista Johnson covers education and children. Have story ideas or questions? Contact her at kjohnson3@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Timeline set for replacing JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio