Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 27, 1993 TAG: 9305270228
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG and MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
In addition to four finalists named in the national search, the School Board is considering four local candidates to head the system of 93 schools, said Jeanne Andrews, president of the School Board in Mobile.
The Mobile school system, the largest in Alabama and 40th largest in the nation, has a yearly budget of $225 million, said Sandra Sims-deGraffenried, who headed the search. The Montgomery County school system, which Dodge has headed for five years, has an annual budget of $42.3 million.
Dodge did not seek renewal on his local contract, which ends June 30.
"The school system is looking for experience in education and vision for the future," said Sims-deGraffenried. "We like to see visionaries take the helm of our school district."
All the finalists have had experience with large school systems, with the exception of Dodge, Sims-deGraffenried said.
The last superintendent to head the 67,000-student system had a salary of about $107,000 per year. Dodge, who as head of Montgomery County's system oversaw 8,500 students, earns a little more than $80,000 per year. Salary for the next Mobile superintendent will be negotiated, Sims-deGraffenried said.
The search committee announced the finalists last week.
The five-person elected School Board will begin interviewing candidates on June 7 and hopes to have someone in office by Aug. 1, Sims-deGraffenried said.
Dodge applied for the position at the beginning of May after Vince Cabarelli, executive director for the Virginia Association of School Superintendents, told him Mobile was looking to fill its top position.
"To tell you the truth, I forgot about it," he said Wednesday. But last week, he was told he was in the running.
Dodge has been a finalist for three superintendent slots over the past few years in Virginia Beach, Florida and Texas.
Alabama was looking for someone who had worked in a system where minorities made up a large percent of the student body, Dodge said. Dodge had worked at the University City system in St. Louis, where minorities made up 78 percent of the student body.
About 40 percent of the students in Mobile are minorities.
The School Board discussed the candidates on Wednesday, and Andrews said she expects to be in touch with Dodge to set up an interview.
Dodge said if he is offered the job, he will take it. He paused during his conversation with a reporter Wednesday to talk to a consultant conducting a search for another school system.
He has applications in with three school systems, he said, but he declined to name them.
by CNB