CMS board whittles its list, plans private interviews with superintendent contenders

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board will meet behind closed doors Wednesday and Thursday to interview semifinalists for superintendent.

North Carolina law requires the board to convene all meetings in public, but allows them to go into closed session for personnel matters. The schedule calls for meetings to start at 11 a.m. Wednesday and 7:15 a.m. Thursday at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center.

The board’s search firm, McPherson & Jacobson, received 51 applications for the job in September. Board leaders have not said how many will be interviewed this week, or how the sessions will be conducted. During its last search, the board held its interviews at the airport, in meeting rooms located inside the security gates, to avoid public exposure of candidates who aren’t hired.

The board’s schedule calls for interviewing finalists in early December. It’s unclear whether those finalists will meet the public before the board makes a decision, as they have in recent searches. Board Chair Mary McCray and Vice Chair Elyse Dashew have said they’ll do public meetings only if the finalists agree to it.

This story was originally published November 15, 2016 at 7:16 PM with the headline "CMS board whittles its list, plans private interviews with superintendent contenders."