by Kate Evans
Morgan County School Board president Aaron Close said on Monday that there are four finalists for the Morgan County Schools Superintendent position. School board members will interview the four candidates for superintendent during the week of April 22-26. The posting for the position closed on April 5.
Current Morgan County School Superintendent Kristen Tuttle offered her resignation at the March 5 school board meeting. The school board accepted her resignation at their March 19 meeting.
Close said that there weren’t as many applicants for the position as hoped. He wasn’t comfortable releasing the total number of applicants or the four finalists’ names.
Close said they advertised outside of this region in the northern Panhandle, central West Virginia and also in Washington County, Maryland, but it didn’t produce a larger pool of applicants as they had hoped.
Close said that their posting with the West Virginia School Board Association and their contact list were the best sources of interested parties for applicants.
Close noted that if the Morgan County School Board can’t have a recommendation for hiring a superintendent by June 1, they would have to move to an interim superintendent appointment for one year. All multi-year superintendent appointments must be completed by June 1.
That wouldn’t be determined until after they talk to the current pool of interviewees next week. They hope to have a final candidate after these interviews, but Close said he’s not going to be rushed into it if a majority of school board members aren’t comfortable with the selection.
“We want to have the best candidate for district leadership,” Close said.
Some of the interviewees are bringing some past superintendent experience to the table, Close said. He’s very pleased and interested to hear about their past accomplishments.
Close said there are around 25 current superintendents around the state that are in one-year contracts. There are very few superintendent postings around the state and few counties that are actively looking for superintendents. It would seem that West Virginia counties are renegotiating contracts with their one-year superintendents.
