Metro Schools’ Board of Education has narrowed the list of candidates down to three for Director of Schools.
Those with the Board made the announcement Friday after it was decided that morning following a day full of interviews Thursday.
Jesus Jara, Shawn Joseph, and H. Allen Smith have been selected to move on to the second round of interviews.
- Jesus Jara - Deputy Superintendent, Orange County Public Schools (FL)
- Shawn Joseph - Deputy Superintendent of for Teaching and Learning, Prince George’s County Public Schools (MD)
- H. Allen Smith - Chief of Schools, Oakland Unified School District (CA)
To view a profile of each candidate, click on their name above.
“[Thursday] the Board had the pleasure of having conversations with six highly-qualified candidates as our next Director of Schools,” said Board Chair Dr. Sharon Gentry. “We find ourselves in a very unique position – Nashville as the “it city” and we, as a community, attracted six up-and-coming, progressive urban school district leaders. After considerable discussion, the Board identified three strong candidates to return. They will participate in the next round of interviews – the two days of VIP visits, city tours and community forums. We thank everyone for their participation and interest in this process.”
The second round of interviews has been set to include community engagement involving chances for the public to give input and ask questions.
Those community forums with the three finalist candidates have been scheduled for May 10-12 with each forum focusing on a different candidate during an hour-long interview.
Those with the Board said they will determine over the weekend which candidate will appear at each forum, which will be hosted at Metro middle and high schools.
For detailed information on the forums, click here.
Questions from the public will be drawn at random during the forums for the candidates to answer, with the public providing feedback to the Board at the end of each forum.
