Morris Holmes will be the LRSD’s interim superintendent, replacing Linda Watson, Cynthia Howell reports in this morning’s Dem-Gaz (subscription required).

Melanie Fox, who was not Howell’s source for the story, declined to confirm Holmes’ selection, but said the board knows who it wants to appoint and the board’s executive session tonight to vote on the interim will be short.

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Holmes, a former teacher in the Little Rock School District and employee of the Department of Education, was interim superintendent in 2003-04. He served as superintendent in New Orleans from 1993 to 1998, but left amid criticism that a rise in student test scores during his tenure were found to be “statistically impossible” by a panel of education experts.

Asked if Holmes were the best the LRSD could do, given those circumstances, Fox said the board had “lots of viable people” to consider for the interim job, that it was important to reach consensus and that “it’s only five and a half months.” Fox said the board plans to have a new superintendent in place by July 3.

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The executive session will follow a regular session starting at 5 p.m. at which personnel changes (“nothing out of the ordinary”) will be made. The board will then vote on a resolution (see jump) on how it will proceed in its search and hear a presentation by the search firm McPherson and Jacobson.

Fox said the board wants to use a hybrid strategy to find a new superintendent, rather than just turning the task over to a national search firm. “The community is starved for engagement,” Fox said. She said the board is considering a number of ways to get the public involved in the selection, including town halls and online input. “I think it’s important that we get it right.”

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Tonight’s meeting will be televised on public access channels.

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