Published: October 14, 2008 08:31 am         

Metz says search for new schools chief will be ‘as open as possible’

Board of Education members will have some help in finding replacement for AuMiller

CUMBERLAND — The search for a new superintendent of schools could be a long one — and the dialogue begins today.

The Allegany County Board of Education meets at 4:30 p.m. for its public work session. Other than public comment, the search is the only topic for discussion between then and the 7 p.m. start time for the regular business meeting. Both meetings are to be conducted at the Central Office at 108 Washington St.

Superintendent of Schools Bill AuMiller indicated at last month’s regular meeting that he will retire in June. AuMiller, in the final year of his second four-year contract with the district, said he made the decision to allow the board as much time as possible to find a replacement.

The board will be assisted in the process by the Maryland Association of Boards of Education, an Annapolis-based nonprofit organization that assists school districts across the state on a variety of issues, including superintendent searches. MABE will be represented by Bea Gordon, lead consultant, and assisted by Carl Smith. The organization is paid on a fee-for-service basis.

“We’re going to keep it as open as possible,” board member Jeff Metz said of the opportunity for county residents to be informed during the process. “I think once the process starts, it’ll be pretty involved.”

Meetings with the public and the board’s input on suggested focus areas will help narrow the selection criteria for candidates, Metz said. State law requires superintendents to be education certification-eligible; to have obtained a master’s degree; have three years of successful teaching experience and two years of administrative or supervisory experience; and have successfully completed a two-year program with graduate courses in administration and supervision.

It hasn’t been long since both Gordon and Smith were in Cumberland to discuss the search process. In January, it was reported that AuMiller and the school board were discussing the possibility of a buyout. Board members privately confirmed such reports but said the reported cost of a buyout — nearing $300,000 — was off the mark.

AuMiller drew public scrutiny — sometimes intense vocal and written opposition — regarding the manner in which he handled events leading to a lawsuit with Cumberland radio station WCBC. That lawsuit finally was settled, but at a significant cost to the school board of at least $154,700.

In the spring, AuMiller helped navigate and diffuse a potentially troubling issue of unrest and boiling racial tensions among students at Fort Hill High School. The issue demanded the attention of the local chapter of the NAACP and the U.S. Department of Justice, which intervened and has conducted diversity and sensitivity training classes with students at all three public high schools in the county this year. Some of those classes are expected to extend to the middle schools.

Last month, AuMiller was the first to come out and attempt to calm more bad publicity for the school district when football players from Dunbar High School in Washington walked off the field at Greenway Avenue Stadium and accused at least one Fort Hill player of saying racial epithets to Dunbar’s team, comprised of predominantly black student-athletes.

AuMiller disputed Dunbar Coach Craig Jefferies’ claims and determined the allegations were unsubstantiated.

Once again, the Department of Justice, as well as the state’s civil rights division with the Attorney General’s Office, have intervened and are investigating the incident.

Other items on the school board agenda include a master plan update from Janet Wilson, assistant superintendent of instruction, and the consideration of a resource officer for the Frostburg area.

The board is expected to approve a bid from Frostburg-based Lashley Construction for the first two phases of the construction of a drop-off area for students at Beall Elementary. The purpose of the project, with a cost of approximately $399,000, is to create a safer environment in which parents and school buses drop off and pick up students.

A 2:30 p.m. executive session is to discuss personnel and consult with counsel. That meeting is not open to the public.

Contact Kevin Spradlin at kspradlin@times-news.com.