Take this Job and...............

Superintendent candidates withdraw

Wednesday, March 4, 2009 9:03 AM EST
By DIANA DILLABER MURRAYOf The Oakland Press

PONTIAC – Both finalists for the top job of Pontiac school superintendent have dropped out of the running, putting the school board back at the beginning of their search for a leader to take the district through restructuring.

T.C. Wallace Jr., superintendent of the Lansing School District, and Brian Ali, special assistant to the superintendent of Matteson Consolidated Schools 162 in Illinois, notified school board President Damon Dorkins of their decision shortly before a trio of trustees was set to visit their school districts this week.

Trustees decided at a hastily called board meeting Tuesday that they will begin the search again rather than look at some of the other candidates who applied for the position.

But this time, the board will take part in the search as well as the consulting firm that has provided candidates for the last two searches, Dorkins said. A total of 15 applicants were submitted to the board by Mike Wilmot, CEO of the Michigan Leadership Institute. The board selected five candidates to interview and picked Wallace and Ali as their finalists.

This is the second time a search for a new superintendent was aborted. A search last year ended when one of two finalists dropped out in the second interview stage and the board decided to start the process again.

This comes at crucial time for the Pontiac school district, which is in the midst of major restructuring. Wallace and Ali were in Pontiac last week for question and answer sessions with the community and second interviews with the board. A few employees and community members made it known they didn’t want Wallace because he had previously worked with former Superintendent Mildred Mason, whom he would be replacing. Mason resigned amid controversy two years ago.

Since then, there have been two interim superintendents, Calvin Cupidore and Linda Paramore, a retired administrator recommended by Oakland Schools who is in the position now.When Ali was here last week, he was told by one community activist, Fran Fowlkes, that the community would be tough on him if he got the job, but he should move ahead and do what he thought right for the district.

Irma Collins, president of the teachers union, was quoted in a story as saying she opposed the hiring of Wallace and was not yet convinced Ali was the right candidate.

On Tuesday, the board first met in closed session over the objection of The Oakland Press, which argued that meetings involving a superintendent search are to be held in public.

Dorkins said the meeting had to be closed because the board did not want to discuss the two candidates or the others whose resumes had already been submitted in a public forum.

Board attorney George Pitchford said all parts of the process would be held in public session.

After about 11 2/ hours in closed session, the board came back and Dorkins reported, “T.C. Wallace withdrew from the process as of Friday at 8 p.m. He did not give a reason and I still don’t have a reason why.

“As of Monday, I received a phone call from Dr. Ali at 9 a.m. stating he was withdrawing.“He said he prayed about it and talked to his family and stated this is not the direction he wanted to go,” Dorkins said.

“Today after discussing the candidates and search process we have determined we will move forward with another search, using the Michigan Leadership Institute and simultaneously the board will be conducting a search and getting information from potential candidates.

“The board is taking a more hands on approach than previously. We will use all of our resources to bear on the search,” he said, saying the board would reach out to leaders and members of several state and federal education associations in an effort to recruit good candidates.

The search subcommittee will meet today, then report to the full board at a study session at noon Friday. The board will also make a report to the community regarding the search at Monday’s 5:30 p.m. meeting.

Contact staff writer Diana Dillaber Murray at (248) 745-4638 or diana.dillaber@oakpress.com.