• Superintendent Search

    The Asheville City Board of Education is undertaking a search for its next superintendent. Community engagement is vital to our process. Asheville City Schools is in the midst of its extensive campaign to solicit input from students and their families, ACS alumni, our educators, educators in higher education, decision-makers and service providers in public, private, and nonprofit sectors, employers, advocates, new residents and other interested stakeholders on the characteristics, experience, and skills they most desire in our next superintendent. We invite everyone in our community to participate and engage in the process.

    Frequently Asked Question

    1) How does the superintendent search process work?

    Campbell Shatley, PLLC Consultants, the Board Attorneys for Asheville City Schools, are facilitating the search process and providing additional support to the Board as it conducts a rigorous, nationwide search. The ACS Board will seek, receive and consider input from the community, review applications, interview candidates and select the new superintendent.

     

    2) When will the new superintendent be hired?

    The Asheville City Board of Education tentatively plans to announce and introduce the new superintendent on or before the end of November 2019, in order for the new superintendent to begin his or her employment as early as Monday, January 6, 2020. These dates are subject to change as the search process continues; however, the successful candidate should be prepared to take office no later than July 1, 2020.  

     

    3) When do parents weigh-in?

    The Asheville City Board of Education solicited input on the characteristics, experience, and skills desired in the next superintendent via online surveys, printed surveys, and public comment at Board meetings as well as during at the following public input forums. 

    Public input forums were scheduled from 5:15 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on these dates:

    August 01, 2019 at Asheville Middle School

    August 07, 2019 at Ira B. Jones Elementary School

    August 12, 2019 at Montford North Star Academy

    August 22, 2019 at Arthur Eddington Center

    August 26, 2019 at Hall Fletcher Elementary School

    August 29, 2019 at North Asheville Library

    September 4, 2019 at Vance Elementary School - En Español

    Additional public input forums took place via Facebook Live on August 28, 2019 at 9:00 AM, 1:00 PM and 7:00 PM. 

    The Board of Education also hosted an input forum in conjunction with Asheville City Schools' first Homework Diner of the 2019-2020 school year.  It took place on Tuesday, September 24th at Asheville Middle School.  A meal was served from 5:00 - 6:00 PM in AMS's Cafeteria, and, while our students were receiving homework help from qualified tutors, our final Superintendent Search Community Forum took place in the school media center from 6:00 - 7:00 PM. 

    A community input survey was available Monday, June 24, 2019 - Sunday, July 28, 2019.  It yielded 1,020 survey takers, the majority of whom are current ACS parents.  An analysis of the Superintendent Search Community Input Survey can be found here.  

    Asheville City Schools crafted a separate Superintendent Search Staff Survey. It was open from June 27th - September 1, 2019 and yielded 236 responses. Its results were presented to the Asheville City Board of Education during their September 11th Work Session and Regular Meeting. A detailed analysis of these results can be found here.

     

    4) When will Asheville City Schools share the collected input with the public?

    Community survey information was compiled, summarized, and presented at the August 5th  Asheville City Board of Education Work Session.  Following the first 10 public input sessions, collected community input was presented at the ACS Board Meeting on Monday, September 9, 2019 during the regularly scheduled board meeting. 

     

    5) How many candidates?

    The deadline to submit an application for the superintendent position was Monday, September 16, 2019. The total number of candidates who applied was 28. 

     

    6) What is the role of the Asheville City Board of Education?

    By law, the Asheville City Board of Education is solely responsible for hiring the new superintendent. The ACS Board will seek, receive, and consider input from the community, review applications, interview candidates, and select the new superintendent. 

     

    7) What is the timing of the process and hiring?

    The Asheville City Board of Education has adopted a timeline for the entire superintendent search process.  The ACS Board scheduled public input forums on August 1, 7, 12, 22, 26, 28 and 29 as well as September 4 and 24.  Online surveys and paper surveys were made available to all community stakeholders from Monday, June 24, 2019 until Sunday, July 28, 2019.

    The deadline for superintendent applications was Monday, September 16, 2019. The ACS Board will review applications and interview candidates during October and November. The ACS Board tentatively plans to announce and introduce the new superintendent on or before the end of November 2019 in order for the new superintendent to begin employment on Monday, January 6, 2020. These dates are subject to change as the search process continues; however, the successful candidate should be prepared to take office no later than July 1, 2020.  

     

    8) How can the public follow this process?

    Information regarding the superintendent search process, including updates, will be posted on the ACS website at http://www.ashevillecityschools.net/. The ACS Board will provide updates regarding the superintendent search at its regularly scheduled board meetings and in press releases.

     

    9) Can we find out who is applying?

    All application materials, including the names of applicants and any other personally identifiable information, are confidential under North Carolina State Law