Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 21, 1993 TAG: 9301210273
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
CITY NARROWS SCHOOL CHIEF LIST
The Roanoke School Board has pared a list of nine superintendent semifinalists down to two or three finalists.Board Chairman Finn Pincus would not say who the finalists are or precisely how many applicants made the final cut. But one board member put the number at "no more than three."
The board made its selections in a 2 1/2-hour closed meeting Tuesday. An announcement about the finalists is expected early next week.
Already, speculation about Frank Tota's successor is spreading. But board members say they are playing the search process close to the vest to preserve confidentiality.
"You have to, like any job, especially in the school business," said Thomas McClernon, of the Virginia School Board Association. McClernon is assisting the Roanoke School Board in its superintendent search.
"There is nothing very secret about the process except protecting confidentiality," he said.
Yet nothing can prevent the flow of rumors. An anonymous caller phoned the newspaper last week to say that none of the nine semifinalists was from this area.
When asked, officials refused to confirm - or deny - that information.
"If I tell you `no,' it would mean we weren't looking at anyone locally," Pincus said. "If I tell you `yes,' there will be all kinds of speculation. What it does is create an extra distraction in each of the three local school divisions."
McClernon, who reviewed the credentials of the 42 applicants, said some of them may have been from the Roanoke area. He confirmed that of the 42, half were from Virginia, four were women and four were black.
"We're looking for the best person," Pincus said. "If a person is from this area and has or had the qualifications, then we will talk to them. I don't see it as a positive or a negative.
"No one else has raised that issue."
Dorothy Cooper, Roanoke Education Association president, said the association "would be very happy if it wasn't someone local for the simple reason we would like to see a fresh start."
Cooper said she respects the board's right to keep the process closed.
"I've heard a couple rumors, but since they want to keep it `hush hush' then I'm not going to bug them about it," she said. "I feel they deserve the right to do it the way they want to."
The finalists will be invited to Roanoke for a second interview next month. Their visits will include meetings with various community groups, Pincus said.