By Kelly O'Connell Reporter
News 3 On Your Side
Surprising news came from the Muscogee County School Board this afternoon.News 3 On Your Side
Email to a Friend
Stumble It!Both the superintendent and the deputy superintendent are retiring.
Dr. John Phillips has been the Superintendent for the Muscogee County school district for over 5 years.
The exact date of his retirement is not clear but in a statement, Phillips says he will retire no later than August 1 of this year.
Dr. Phillips told board members last night of his decision after the board meeting, but asked them to keep it secret until today.
This morning, he met with all the principals in the district to tell them his plan.
His retirement comes the same day as the retirement of the deputy superintendent Dr. Robin Pennock.
Board chairman James Walker says he was surprised, but now the board must look towards the future.
“That's going to be one of the things I say to the board, we need to start putting on our thinking caps about how we want to conduct our search for the new superintendent,” says Walker.
Board member Cathy Vaughn Williams agrees, “finding a superintendent isn't the easiest thing to do so I would expect that we will begin sooner than later and we may have to look at a interim while we take our time and be very deliberate about who is the next superintendent,” says Williams.
In the statement Dr. Phillips says "it is time for me to rebalance my commitments, step back from the superintendency and devote precious hours to them (family)."
The next step for the school district is to decide how it wants to conduct its search.
The board can either conduct the search internally or they can hire a company to find the next superintendent.
Board chairman James Walker says he will bring up the need to start the search soon at the called board meeting tomorrow night.
