The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board has agreed on who they want to lead the district — but they’ll review an in-depth background report on that person Monday night before offering a contract.
Summer Nunn, who chairs the board’s search committee, says the board hired an opposition research firm — the kind that digs up dirt on potential political candidates — to make sure there aren’t any unpleasant surprises once the board signs a contract. That’s in addition to standard background checks done by the search firm and research done by board members.
“I’ve heard from the past they wish they would have done better background checks on people,” said Nunn, who was elected in November.
As of Monday evening, CMS had not responded to a request for the name of the opposition research firm and the amount the board is paying.
Nunn and her colleagues hope to avoid a repeat of the CMS board’s last two national searches. Those brought leaders who resigned under pressure with confidentiality agreements in less than three years. In both cases, there were reports of problems with the way those leaders treated people and conducted district business.
The board fired Earnest Winston, who was hired internally without a search and lacked the usual qualifications, in April 2022. He’d been on the job less than three years. Board Chair Elyse Dashew has talked about finding someone this time who will be around for 10 years, bringing stable leadership to a district that has had four superintendents and two interims in the past decade.
If the opposition research something bad turns up on this finalist, the board could go back and look at other options. But the goal is to schedule another meeting, possibly this week, to approve a contract and announce the new superintendent.
The board’s search firm, BWP & Associates, says 39 people applied for the CMS job. Many of them are currently serving as superintendents or high-ranking administrators in other districts. The board interviewed six of them, then narrowed the field to four for second interviews.
The board agreed not to disclose any information about applicants who are not chosen, after the search consultants advised that people who currently have jobs won’t apply if they believe they’ll be “outed” for seeking another job.