As most residents began their weekends, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education began its search for a new superintendent.
With the help of its selected search firm, the North Carolina School Boards Association, the board approved a general outline for the selection process at a Friday night meeting.
Since current superintendent Neil Pedersen plans to retire in June, the board wants to have a replacement selected by April 1.
“It was felt that that would be the minimum amount of time necessary for the next superintendent to give notice to the current district they’re departing,” said Assistant Superintendent for Support Services Todd Lofrese.
State law requires a minimum notice of 30 days before a superintendent leaves, but some contracts go as high as 60 or 90.
To have a new superintendent in place by April, the board set an application deadline of Jan. 31 and will begin advertising the opening today.
The search firm will advertise the position in places like the websites of American Association of School Administrators and Education Week. While some sites are free, the estimated budget for advertisements is more than $2,000.
This money will come out of the $40,000 allotted for the search, said Board Chairman Mike Kelley.
“It will slow you down if you don’t go ahead and advertise,” said search firm representative Allison Schafer.