R. Stephen Green, the superintendent of Kansas City Public Schools, is expected to take over the top job for the DeKalb County School District, according to more than one person with knowledge of the search.
The school board is expected to announce Green as the sole finalist for its top job at 8 p.m. at the district’s offices in Stone Mountain. He will take over for Michael Thurmond, who has led the district since February 2013. After the announcement of a single finalist, the district has to wait 14 days before offering a contract.
Green is currently in the middle of a five-year contract with Kansas City, which includes a three-year contract and two one-year extensions that would keep him there until June 2018. He started with the district in August 2011 as interim superintendent. He took the job permanently in 2012.
Efforts to reach Green were unsuccessful late Tuesday.
When he took over, Kansas City Public Schools was losing enrollment, having dropped to about 17,000 students — about half the number that existed in 2000. The district also lost its accreditation in January 2012. Green has been instrumental in improving the district, and Missouri granted it provisional accreditation last August.
Green was selected as superintendent of the year for 2015 by the Missouri Association of School Administrators.
Last week, the DeKalb County Board of Education fired search firm ProAct Search, which was charged with finding superintendent candidates, due to misconduct allegations against another search firm with the same owners. In Chicago, SUPES Academy is dealing with allegations involving no-bid contracts with a firm where the current Chicago Public Schools superintendent once was employed.
According to the timeline under which the DeKalb district was said to be operating, the board was to begin interviewing finalists this week, with a selection coming in early June.
Efforts to reach several school board officials were unsuccessful late Tuesday.
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