Knox County school board has selected three finalists for superintendent recommended by the search committee from the Tennessee School Boards Association. Interviews and a public forum will be held this month with a vote at a special called meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 22. Details about the candidates here.
The finalists are:
Dr. Linda Cash, superintendent of Bradley County Schools in East Tennessee since 2015. Cash has 18 years of experience as a teacher in various states.
Dr. Jon Rysewyk, assistant superintendent and chief academic officer at Knox County Schools since 2017. He was principal at Emerald Academy for two years and principal at Fulton High for four.
Kirk Shrum, currently the chief school leadership officer at Henry County Schools in Georgia and has been since 2009. He has 10 years of experience in school administration and six years as an educator.
Pop Quiz
Knox County Schools has set a public forum to introduce the three finalists for superintendent. It will be at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 17, at West High School, 3300 Sutherland Ave. At 7 p.m. on the same day, West High students from the theatre department will be performing “Hairspray.”
- “Hairspray” will outdraw the superintendent forum.
- The superintendent finalists will slip out about 7 p.m. to watch “Hairspray.”
- A school board majority will ditch the finalists in order to pursue “a more Zac Efron type superintendent.”
A blogger who formerly served on the school board reported on the selection of finalists like this: “The candidates in no order is …”
- True
- False
The school board is looking to blame someone (anyone) for the federal court decree that prevents the BOE from removing the mask mandate. “Even Massachusetts has stopped the masks,” said one board member. “Massachusetts!”
- The BOE should blame the parent plaintiffs who sued to protect their kids.
- The BOE should blame Law Director David Buuck whose department defended a policy, or lack of policy, that no one bothered to clear with him in advance.
- The BOE should blame Dr. Martha Buchannan, because everyone else has.
Mayor Glenn Jacobs tweeted before Wednesday’s BOE meeting: “I stand with the parents.” Which parents did he mean?
- The parents who want their kids to breathe freely, despite warnings from public health officials.
- The parents who want their kids and all kids to be protected from Covid until the vaccines beat it back.
- The parents (mostly dads) who haven’t noticed yet that kids are wearing masks. “Masks? What masks?”
Sandra Clark is editor/CEO of Knox TN Today.