CHARLOTTE — The search for the new Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools superintendent is now in its beginning stages.
On Tuesday night, the school board approved a plan to create an advisory panel to oversee the selection and hiring process.
The board chair will appoint four board members to the committee.
Rankin told Channel 9 they will likely hire an outside search firm, which could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
That’s on top of the nearly $380,000 it cost to investigate former Superintendent Dr. Crystal Hill and the $340,000 it cost to pay Hill out after firing her without finding wrongdoing.
The state auditor and the SBI are investigating financial irregularities within the district.
Hill claimed that former School Board Chair Stephanie Sneed signed contracts that she and other board members did not know about.
On Tuesday, Channel 9 reported that the new board chair, Dee Rankin, was previously charged with financial crimes himself.
He pleaded guilty in 2008 to his role in a $20 million mortgage fraud scheme.
Rankin said on Tuesday that his work has spoken for itself and that he’s a man of faith and integrity who has learned from his mistakes.
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