The Rutherford County Board of Education will begin deliberations Monday, March 5, to select finalists for the Director of Schools position. 

Current Director Don Odom has submitted his intent to retire effective June 30, 2018. Odom has worked as an educator in Rutherford County for 50 years and has served as director since 2012. 

Fifteen candidates have submitted applications to be considered as the next director. 

The School Board has hired the Tennessee School Boards Association to help facilitate the search process. The deadline for submissions was Feb. 23. The TSBA has a screening committee that is reviewing the list of applicants and their qualifications and will bring a list of recommended finalists to the School Board at Monday’s meeting, which begins at 5 p.m. 

The School Board will then decide which finalists to invite for an in-depth interview. The School Board can consider any of the 15 applicants, regardless of the recommendation from TSBA. 

After the interviewees are selected, the interviews will be scheduled out for the month of March. The School Board is then scheduled to make a final selection sometime in April. All meetings will be announced and will be open to the public, as always. 

The dates and times of all School Board meetings are listed at www.rcschools.net.

The 15 candidates for Director of Schools are:

1. John (Jack) Lee Birmingham Jr., assistant superintendent, Union Township School Corporation in Valparaiso, Indiana 
2. Joseph Dawidziak, district administrator, Raymond School District, Burlington, Wisconsin
3. Dr. E. Connor Gardner, instructor, Lakeland High School, Corapeake, North Carolina
4. Dr. John Ash, principal Central Magnet School, Murfreesboro, Tennessee
5. Christopher Morris, special education teacher, Jackson-Madison County, Jackson, Tennessee
6. William Spurlock, principal, Oakland High School, Murfreesboro, Tennessee. 
7. Steven Luker, principal, Smyrna Middle School, Smyrna, Tennessee.
8. William C. Wade, associate superintendent, Santa Fe Schools, Santa Fe, New Mexico
9. Dr. Anne G. Garrett, superintendent, Haywood County Schools, Waynesville, North Carolina
10. Richard Zago, assistant superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, Rutherford County Schools, College Grove, Tennessee
11. Dr. Clark Harrell, principal, Stewarts Creek High School, Smyrna, Tennessee
12. Thomas Delbridge III, coordinator of Attendance, Rutherford County Schools, Rockvale, Tennessee
13. Dr. Sally Sugg, school board member, Henderson County / retired principal, Henderson, Kentucky
14. Dr. Anthony Kinkel, executive director, Minnesota State Board of School Administrators, Stillwater, Minnesota 
15. Barbara Parker, superintendent, Cannon County Schools 2009-2017, Woodbury, Tennessee
    

- JAMES EVANS, Rutherford County Schools