The selection of a new superintendent for the Baltimore County Public Schools appears to be imminent.
The school board is meeting privately Tuesday to interview the four finalists for the position, according to Gboyinde Onijala, the director of communications for the school system.
Board Chair Jane Lichter declined to comment on where things currently stand on the search.
At the school board’s meeting May 2, Lichter said they hoped to make their selection by the third or fourth week of May. Lichter added that this final round of interviews will give the board a chance to learn more about the candidates’ vision for the school system.
“We will take a deeper dive into their applications, experiences and references and thoroughly evaluate whether they would be a good fit for our unique and richly diverse school system,” Lichter said.
After that, Lichter said the new superintendent will tour the county.
“A series of public meetings will be scheduled for the community to meet the new superintendent,” Lichter said. “The meetings will offer the superintendent the opportunity to meet with parents, business, education, civic, community leaders and the community at large.”
Whoever gets the job will be the fourth leader the school system has had in six years, and it’s been a rocky road.
It started with Dallas Dance who resigned in 2017, pled guilty to perjury and spent four months in jail.
The current school superintendent, Darryl Wiliams, decided not to ask to have his contract renewed. He had come under withering criticism from the County Council and others for his handling of staff shortages, COVID and the 2020 ransomware attack.
The school board hired the executive search firm of McPherson and Jacobson, LLC to help with the search.
A superintendent needs to be in place by July 1.