Fayette Board announces first two candidates to be interviewed for Superintendent's Post

Transformation leadership, urban experience, 

gap closing success touted as strengths of both

 This from Lisa Deffendall at FCPS (Press release):

Fayette County Board of Education members are pleased to announce two of the finalists who will interview for the post of Fayette County Public Schools Superintendent:

·         Emmanuel “Manny” Caulk, currently the Superintendent of the Portland Public Schools in Maine, will be in Lexington on Tuesday, June 23, and Wednesday June 24.

·         Terri Breeden, who is currently Assistant Superintendent of the Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia, will be in Lexington on Thursday, June 25, and Friday June 26.

Additional candidates may also be scheduled for interviews.

“Our community asked us to find a superintendent with a record of success in an urban school district and documented results of consistently improving achievement for all students,” said Fayette County Board of Education Chairman John Price. “We are confident that as superintendent these two transformational leaders would put children at the center of every decision he or she makes, and rebuild trust and strengthen relationships with students, employees, families and the community at large.”

Caulk was hired in 2012 as the schools chief in Portland, the largest school district in Maine, serving roughly 7,000 students. He previously served as an Assistant Superintendent in the School District of Philadelphia  – serving 167,000 students – and Assistant Superintendent in East Baton Rouge Parish School System – a district of 46,000 students in Louisiana.

He has seven years of classroom experience, including five years as a special education teacher in a juvenile detention center in Delaware. He has been an elementary and high school principal in public school systems, and dean of students, special education coordinator, and regional director with charter schools. Caulk holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in education, a law degree, and will complete his doctorate in education this December.

          

Breeden started her current role in Loudoun – a school district of 80,000 students on the outskirts of Washington D.C. – in 2014. She previously served as an Assistant Superintendent in the Fairfax County Public Schools – a district of 181,000 students in Virginia – and an Executive Director of grades 5-12 in the Metropolitan Nashville Schools – a district of 75,000 students in Tennessee.

She taught elementary and middle school in Nashville for 12 years, and has been an assistant principal and principal. Breeden holds a bachelor’s degree in education, two master’s degrees in education and a doctorate in education.

“Each of these candidates has a wealth of experience in classrooms and school leadership roles. Both Manny and Terri have worked with students coming from diverse backgrounds and have demonstrated success in closing achievement gaps,” Price said. “Our screening committee and board agree that they clearly meet the profile developed by our stakeholders, and we are excited to introduce them to our community.”

Caulk and his wife will arrive in Lexington on Tuesday, June 23, 2015. We will begin with a tour of our local schools in the afternoon and will host a reception open to EVERYONE to come meet and greet the candidate and his or her spouse.

Due to overwhelming interest from our community, the reception venue has been changed to Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, 1600 Man o’ War Blvd., from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

On Wednesday, June 24, 2015, Caulk will be interviewed throughout the day by eight different focus groups representing students, employees, families and community members.  Each of the eight interview panels will then provide feedback to the school board about their impressions of each candidate. Those interviews will be held at Bryan Station High School, 201 Eastin Road.

A press conference will be held at 3:15 p.m. on Wednesday, June 24, in Conference Room C at the district office, 701 East Main Street. The press conference will air live and be replayed on the district’s dedicated cable station, Channel 13. Beginning at 6 p.m. that evening, the community is encouraged and invited to attend a public forum to be held in Norsworthy Auditorium at the school district office.

The schedule will repeat when Breeden and her husband arrive in Lexington on the afternoon of Thursday, June 25, 2015. Again, there will be a community reception from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School. The full day of focus group interviews, press conference at 3:15 p.m. and public forum at 6 p.m. will be on Friday, June 26, 2015.

Everyone is welcome and encouraged to:

·         Attend the community receptions for the first two finalists on June 23 and June 25 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School. All students, families, employees, and all Lexington residents are welcome!

·         Participate in the public forums, moderated by KET Connections host Renee Shaw, on June 24 and June 26 from 6 to 7 p.m. at the district office.

·         You are also invited to submit questions for the public forum and send the school board feedback on the candidates – please visit www.fcps.net/letstalk to suggest questions and tell the school board what you think.

“This is an exciting for the Fayette County Public Schools as we look to select a leader who can help draw our team together and focus on building a brighter future for the children of Fayette County,” Price said. “We look forward to welcoming these high quality candidates and getting to know them while engaging our community to showcase our great school district.”

This from the Portland (Maine) Press Herald:

Portland Public Schools Superintendent Emmanuel Caulk is a finalist for school superintendent in the 40,000-student Lexington, Kentucky, public school system, according to a press release from the Portland School District Friday afternoon.

Caulk was hired in July 2012 to be Portland’s school superintendent, and has several years remaining on his contract. The school board this past November voted unanimously to extend his contract to June 2019.

“I am most grateful to the school board for its support and I consider it a privilege and an honor to have been able to serve Portland Public Schools students, staff and families and the Portland community for the past three years,” Caulk said in the release.

“I will miss Portland, but I’m eager to take on a new career challenge that represents an opportunity for me personally and professionally.”

School Board Chair Sarah Thompson said that the board would find a possible interim superintendent and then search for a permanent replacement if Caulk is confirmed.

“We thank Superintendent Caulk for his service and wish him well regarding this potential new chapter of his life,” Thompson said in the release. “He has been a transformational superintendent whose dedicated and visionary leadership has led to renewed optimism regarding Maine’s largest and most diverse school district. He and the board share a commitment to quality education and have worked well together to make significant improvements at the Portland Public Schools. I’m proud of the results, which include a balanced budget, progress on upgrading school facilities, a focus on student achievement, enhanced community outreach, increased parent engagement and new ways to recognize student and staff achievements.”