The Columbus City Schools board has narrowed the list of finalists for superintendent to three - and interim superintendent John Stanford did not make the cut.
The board narrowed the list of candidates Thursday evening, and a series of public meetings to introduce the candidates kicks off Monday evening. The board could make their final decision as early as next Thursday. The finalists are:
-- Terry Dade, assistant superintendent for Region 3 of the Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia. Dade oversees 45 schools in the suburban Washington, D.C. district, a position he's held for three years. Prior to this he was a school principal in D.C. and Fairfax County. Dade will meet the Columbus public in a forum at Independence High School Monday evening from 5-6:30 pm.
-- Talisa Dixon, superintendent of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City Schools for the past five years, was formerly a principal in Columbus City Schools for nine years. she has also worked as a school principal in Akron, and an adimistrator in Saginaw, Michigan. She will take part in a public forum at Centennial High School on Tuesday, September 18th, from 5-6:30pm.
-- Ava Tasker Mitchell, an elemntary instructional director with Prince Georges County Public Schools in Maryland, also outside Washington D.C. she has worked as a teacher, a building administrator and upper-level adminstrator over 21 years in public education. She will meet the public in a forum at Africentric Early College K-12 Wednesday evening, September 19th, from 5-6:30 pm.
Interim Superintendent John Stanford, who took over for Dan Good at the beginning of 2018, was the last candidate standing in the first superitendent search begun last fall. But state Auditor David Yost alleged school board members had violated open meetings laws during that process; deciding on candidates in private, interviewing undelcared candidates and otherwise manipulating the search process. Yost threatened the board with possible fines, and the district cancelled that search and began a new one in March.
