The Cumberland County School Board asking school personnel who might be interested in serving as the system’s Interim Director to reach out.
School Board members met with the Tennessee School Board Association this week to discuss getting help with choosing a replacement for Billy Stepp. School Board Chair Chris King said he’s concerned that the process to find a new director might take some time.
“Our current director could leave at any time,” King said. “If he did, we have to have an interim in place. We can’t go a day without a director. Right. We need to be thinking about that, be prepared to come up with a suggestion to appoint someone who’s highly qualified to take that position until we get through the process.”
The School Board agreed anyone inside the system who would like to be considered for interim director, should reach out to King via email. The board also said it would consider changing the system’s current policy which prohibits an interim director from applying for the permanent position.
“That may be something we want to look at long term,” School Board Member Jon Matthews said. “We just need to go ahead and vote at some point, maybe next week or whatever during the meeting to allow for them to be able to apply, right? Since that’s what the policy states now.”
King said a permanent change to the policy would require a longer process.
Stepp’s contract ends June 30. In a controversial decision, the board voted earlier this year not to renew Stepp’s contract.
