Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools superintendent committee to talk hiring search firm

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - The committee tasked with finding a new superintendent to lead Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is meeting Wednesday morning.

It’s a process that started last fall and is something a lot of parents are closely watching.

Wednesday’s meeting will focus on criteria to select a search firm the board will hire to find candidates.

Right now, Dr. Crystal Hill is leading the district on an interim basis. She stepped in when former interim superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh suddenly stepped aside. Before that, the board fired former superintendent Dr. Earnest Winston last year.

Related: CMS board releases new document about former superintendent Winston after tense meeting

CMS has had five superintendents in 10 years, not the kind of instability families want from the state’s second-largest school district.

This process is expected to cost about $50,000. Five of the school board members, including search committee chair Summer Nunn, are new and don’t have the experience of such a search. That’s why the search firm is so important.

WBTV sat down with Hill and asked if she is interested in the job.

“I’m really focused on doing what’s important today, at the same time looking forward, not necessarily what my role will be but making sure that CMS is well positioned to move forward with whoever may be in this seat in the future,” she said.

By early February, the school board wants to hire a search firm and launch the official search. By March they hope to narrow down a group of finalists and then approve a contract by April or May. That would ensure the new superintendent has the summer to get up to speed before the start of the 2023-2024 school year.

Wednesday’s search committee meeting starts at 9 a.m.

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