Five finalists for Fayette County Public Schools superintendent have been announced, along with a schedule for community forums to meet and get to know the candidates.
The search process for the district’s next top school official has been underway for months following the unexpected loss of former Superintendent Manny Caulk in December.
In the meantime, school board chair Tyler Murphy says, in selecting Caulk's successor, meeting the needs of a diverse student body emerged as a clear community priority.
"That was one of the things that really bubbled to the top when we looked at the surveys and the input sessions," Murphy told reporters. "Our community is committed to finding a candidate that has this commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion."
But the selection process has come under fire, with the NAACP pushing for in-person meetings and an extension of the public input period.
“The NAACP has previously reported FCPS’s own data which has consistently shown racial disparities in student achievement, student discipline practices, and teacher hiring. These inequities have been exacerbated during the pandemic,” NAACP Education Committee chair Shambra Mulder said in a release.
The district announced Monday that the community will get a chance to meet the finalists one-on-one on June 2 at Frederick Douglass High School. The candidates – which include Angela Dominguez, and Drs. Tawana Grover, Demetrus Liggins, Melvin Brown, and Christopher Bernier – will also take part in hour-long virtual Q&As.
Read more on the candidates and community forums
The school board hopes to have a new superintendent in the job by the start of the new school year.
