The Portland Public Schools board is pumping the brakes just a bit on its superintendent search. The school board didn’t agree on a finalist for the job at a private meeting Friday.
The school board and an advisory committee have spent nearly 18 hours interviewing three leading candidates for the Portland superintendent job. But board members emerged from a private meeting without consensus on a single finalist as they had hoped.
Board chair Tom Koehler said after the meeting the board is "continuing its due diligence" and could announce a finalist by the middle or end of next week. That would be the first time the public would get any information on specific candidates since the search began last year.
Once that information is public, board members expect to visit the would-be superintendent’s current work place.
Related: PPS Board Closes In On New Superintendent
Portland's school board has had conflicts in recent months, and the hiring of a new superintendent is one of the most critical jobs for any school board.
While board members were unable to agree on a finalist at the Friday meeting, the relatively short delay in a finalist announcement point to optimism on the part of Koehler that they are close to a decision.
Portland’s last permanent chief, Carole Smith, retired last spring as parents raged against the district’s response to finding lead in school drinking water.
Bob McKean replaced Smith on an interim basis and is expected to serve through the school year, with a new permanent superintendent taking over this summer.
Throughout the superintendent search, Portland Public Schools has attempted to strike a balance between the public's interest in who's competing for the top job in Oregon's largest school district with the privacy concerns of candidates who tend to have high-profile jobs already.
An example of this balance is the school board's creation of a 17-member advisory committee: Its members represent various groups in the Portland community, but it meets in private and members were asked to sign confidentiality agreements.