Aggressive interview schedule awaits finalists for Bogalusa City Schools superintendent

Lionel Jackson,
Tangipahoa Schools

“They’ve got a pretty aggressive schedule for me,” said Bogalusa City Schools superintendent candidate Dr. Daniel Slack told wpnewsblog in a late night conversation  Wednesday. Slack is superintendent of the East Carter R-II district in El Dorado Springs, Mo.

Slack said he had visited several  web sites connected to Bogalusa, especially that of the school district, and generally liked what he saw.

Dr. Daniel Slack,
El Dorado Springs, Mo.

Not only is the interview schedule aggressive, so is the district’s plan for hiring a new leader — the third since 2005. The board plans to select the new superintendent at the June 28 board meeting and hopes to have them on the job by July 1. That means from the end of interviews next week until reporting for work, the new superintendent will have nine total days to give notice to their present employer, tie up loose ends and get ready to move.

Slack will be the last of the three candidates to visit the community and go through the interview process, arriving Tuesday in order to meet his Wednesday schedule. On Monday, Louise Smith, support staff specialist for the Poplarville (Miss.) School District will visit the community while Lionel Jackson, an assistant superintendent with the Tangipahoa Parish School District, will interview on Tuesday.

Louise Smith,
Poplarville, Miss.

Slack and Jackson have both been finalists for positions earlier this year, while Smith was a finalist when Ruth Horne was hired in 2008.

According to the plan developed by the school district and McPherson & Jacobson, LLC, each candidate will spend a full day in Bogalusa. During that time frame, they will meet with seven focus groups representing students, parents, community members, and employees. The schedule will also include a daily public forum where citizens are invited to meet the candidates and hear their answers to questions submitted by the community.

Following the forums, the board will conduct its formal interviews in executive session during a special board meeting each evening.

Interim Supt. Stephanie Hoppen hopes there will be a good turn out.

“Your input is very important to us,” she wrote in a memo. “Since there will be meetings throughout the day, beginning at 9 a.m., we are asking each group to please be prompt so that other groups will keep their assigned time slot.”

The daily schedule is as follows:

8 a.m. — Tour of District/Schools

9 a.m. — Principals & Supervisors Group

10 a.m. — Teachers

11 a.m. — Open Forum in Board Room with External Stakeholders invited (Moderator in charge)

12 p.m. — Lunch

1 p.m. — Student Council

2 p.m. — Classified Staff

3 p.m. — Union Representatives

4 p.m. — Open Forum in Board Room with PTA and Parents invited

(Moderator in charge)

5 p.m. — Break

5:30 — 7 p.m. Formal Interview with Board of Education

7:30 — 9 p.m. Dinner with the Board