CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee School Board Association held input meetings with parents, teachers, administration, and the public all day Tuesday to help build a list of criteria the man or woman who is to fill the shoes of the director of schools for Clarksville-Montgomery County must meet.

(TO SEE IMAGES FROM THE PUBLIC INPUT MEETING, CLICK HERE.)

Dr. Tammy Grissom, Executive Director of TSBA guided the evening meeting and explained to the crowd the purpose of the session. According to Grissom the public would be presented with three questions;

1. What are the good things going on in the school system the public would like to see continue?
2. What problems or challenges do you see in CMCSS?
3. What personal characteristics would you like to see the new director have?

After the TSBA has collected all the input and established a criteria list, the list will be presented to the school board. It is expected that the criteria will be presented to the board on February 7. The CMCSS board will vote to accept the criteria, add to, or reject all together during the meeting on the 7th.

One-by-one the questions were posed to the public and they offered suggestions, opinions, and complaints to Grissom.

Many in the meeting agreed that programs like STEM Academy, Power School, and 100 percent graduation were several programs the group wanted to continue. For some of the problems issues such as bilingual programs in the school were top of the list for county commissioner Tommy Vallejos. The unique diversity of the student population coupled with the high mobility rate provided others with concern.

When it came to the character of the proposed director there were several divisions in the crowd. Rudy Johnson of the Education Foundation felt that a local candidate may be the best path to take while several members of the public argued that an outside candidate was preferable.

In support of his suggestion Johnson said, “It’s a pretty steep learning curve.”

There was overwhelming agreement on communication for the new director. Each member attending also agreed that listening, parental communication, and being connected to the community were highly desirable traits. It was also agreed that the new director be well educated as opposed to the state’s requirement of only a bachelor’s degree and that whoever the candidate is, the must view CMCSS as a crowning achievement not a stepping stone to further their career.

At the close of the meeting there was some concern expressed that the school board may have already chosen the candidate they want for the director position. Grissom assured the group it was the job of TSBA to gather the search criteria and then perform an exhaustive search vetting each applicant. Once the list of candidates has been narrowed to the number the board has requested, those person will be interviewed by the school board via public meetings.

Grissom did not know of any predetermined decisions about candidates by the school board. According to the executive director, finalist will be presented to the school board on April 3rd. The week of April 9 through 13 is set aside for the interview process.

To keep up with the CMCSS school board’s search for a new director, or to see a list of scheduled events for CMCSS, visit them on the web at www.cmcss.net.





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