School Board Begins Search for Hairston's Successor

The Baltimore County school board named a four-member committee Tuesday night charged with finding a successor for outgoing Superintendent Joe Hairston.

Board President Lawrence Schmidt wasted no time announcing the formation of a committee made up of four board members—board Vice President Valerie Roddy, Ed Parker, Ramona Johnson and former state Sen. Michael Collins.

Hairston's announcement came a week after and that the board had voted to not offer him an extension.

In a brief statement, the superintendent, confirmed his intentions.

"I do not intend to seek another term and, of course, I offer my full support to the board as you move toward the process of a superintendent search," said Hairston, whose 12-year tenure is scheduled to end on June 30, 2012.

Hairston pledged his support and that of his staff.

"We're still part of a great team," Hairston said.

Hairston, who is scheduled to be in Austin, TX, on Wednesday and Thursday, said he planned to speak more about his decision at a Friday news conference.

Schmidt praised Hairston for his time on the board and for making the announcement earlier than required by law.

"By advising us now, Dr. Hairston has given the board the opportunity to conduct a lengthy and thorough search for a replacement and we certainly appreciate that he made this announcement and this decision at this time," Schmidt said.

Schmidt said the board has "a little bit of a luxury of time" to begin and complete the search.

State law requires that superintendents give notice to their respective boards of education no later than Feb. 1 of the final year of their contract.

The committee has 30 days to report back to the board on three topics:

• Creation of a reasonable timeline for completing a national search for a replacement. Schmidt said his goal is to hire a new superintendent to start July 1.
• Develop a request for proposal for hiring a national search firm to assist with a candidate search as well as determining the costs of such a search and how to pay for it.
• Develop a process for community input.

"We have a significant task before us," Schmidt said.

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