School board wants community input regarding superintendent position

The Charlotte Public Schools Board of Education will hold a special meeting Sept. 22 to gain community input regarding the district’s superintendent position.

Julie Kimmer, president of Charlotte Public Schools Board of Education, said the board has to make a decision whether to entertain interim superintendent Mark Rosekrans as an internal candidate or to conduct a full search. Rosekrans has been serving the district as interim superintendent since Aug. 21 when the board voted to extend a separation agreement offer to former superintendent Nancy Hipskind.

Before making that decision, however, the board is eager to hear the community’s thoughts on the subject. The Sept. 22 meeting, which will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the district boardroom, is open to all community members.
“Each member of the board has a different opinion,” Kimmer said. “We’d like to hear what the community has to say as to whether or not we need to go through the search process.”

Kimmer said the feedback from community members as well as district employees has been very positive to this point regarding Rosekrans.

“It will be good to get more feedback from the community,” Kimmer said.

There will most likely not be a board vote at the Sept. 22 meeting. Kimmer said that would most likely take place at the board’s regular October meeting. She said the board has not identified the characteristics it would like the next superintendent to possess as it is waiting until after it has heard from the community in an official setting.

“I know a lot of these meetings have been cumbersome, but if we don’t do it this way, people feel that they didn’t have the opportunity to share their opinions. We really want to give the community every opportunity to voice their opinions.”

Rosekrans has served as the interim superintendent while also continuing to manage the operations of the district, where he previously served as associate superintendent for operations. Kimmer said the board must make a decision soon and has set an Oct. 31 deadline, because Rosekrans cannot be expected to continue to handle both positions for an extended period of time.