Knox school leaders to consider seven for interim superintendent job

School leaders will consider seven candidates for the interim Knox County Schools supetintendent gig.

The deadline to apply or nominate someone was 4:30 p.m. Monday.

The Knox County Board of Education has agreed to pick an interim superintendent to oversee the school system by the first week of April and then have that person in place on July 11 – the Monday after current Superintendent Jim McIntyre officially steps down.

The list of contenders for the interim position:

• Bob Thomas, a Knox County assistant superintendent
• Buzz Thomas, president of the Great Schools partnership
• Rodney Russell, Director of Human Capital Strategy at KCS
• Danny Trent, Knox County Schools secondary supervisor
• Ed Hedgepeth, who now works for the University of Tennessee, and retired from KCS.
• Chris Caldwell, Knox County finance director.
• George Hamilton, a Knoxville resident, submitted a letter of interest in the position.

The board unanimously agreed to let member Terry Hill oversee the vetting process. Hill will interview the candidates and then submit a recommendation for the board to discuss during an April 4 workshop. Members would then vote on the appointment April 6.

After that, the BOE’s chairman, Doug Harris, would have until April 17 to negotiate a contract with the selection.

Board members during a meeting last month that they were looking for someone familiar with the school system’s budget, schools and staff.

As superintendent, McIntyre oversees a $438 million budget, 90 schools and a 7,500-person workforce that includes almost 5,000 teachers.

The Knox County BOE hired McIntyre in the spring of 2008, after a year-long process that included whittling down a list of 40 candidates to a handful of finalists.

At the time, officials held a number of community meetings to define the next superintendent’s skill set.

In the end, the choice came down to three names: McIntyre, Brian Bingelli, an assistant superintendent in Virginia’s Fairfax County Public Schools, and Bob Thomas, now in the running as interim superintendent.