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Steppe turns job down; more interviews slated

By Carey Phillips
The Jackson County School Board will interview five additional candidates for superintendent Monday, Oct. 30, beginning at 9 a.m., according to Board Chairman Martha Queen.

The decision to hold a third round of interviews came at a board meeting Monday night (Oct. 16).

The board has already interviewed 11 candidates in an effort to find a replacement for Superintendent Frank Burrell, who plans to retire Jan. 31. Sources told The Herald that Cherokee County Superintendent Gary Steppe turned down the job last week.

"We feel like we've got such incredibly qualified applicants that we feel the need to go a little bit further and make sure our decision is correct," Queen said of scheduling additional interviews.

Six candidates were interviewed on Aug. 2. Among them were three local administrators - Arlin Middleton, director of workforce development and school maintenance; Sue Nations, Fairview School principal; and Lib Balcerek, Blue Ridge School principal. After readvertising the position, board members received 21 additional applications. Five members of that group, including Steppe, were interviewed Oct. 2.

The five Oct. 30 interviews will be with candidates from the second group who are "on the same level" as those interviewed earlier this month, Queen said. Interviewing more than five of the second group of applicants was always viewed as a possibility, Queen said. Work obligations of two school board members made it impossible to schedule all 10 interviews close together.

The remaining 10 candidates interviewed during the first two rounds are still in consideration for the post, Queen emphasized.

In personnel action Monday, James Pennington was hired as a countywide HVAC mechanic. The following non-employee faculty coaches were approved for Smoky Mountain High School: Doug Johnson, freshman football assistant; Brad McAbee and Chris Brown, junior varsity football assistants; Jamie Extine, freshman football head coach; Tonya Kenyon, JV women's basketball head coach; Bill Bowers, swim team head coach; Jeff Carpenter, men's JV basketball assistant; and Mike Allen and Chuck Patterson, wrestling assistants.

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