CMS selects search firm for superintendent search

CHARLOTTE — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools held an emergency meeting on Friday morning regarding its superintendent search.

The school board unanimously selected BWP Associates to take charge of the search. CMS announced in January that they hoped to have their next superintendent hired by April.

BWP was one of four firms the search committee was considering .

BWP’s contract will run through June 30, the length of the search, until the person selected gets the job.

The consultant group will get paid $48,500. It will cost another $6,000 for the final candidates to travel to the Queen City.

The advertising cost will be $2,500.

School board member Summer Nunn is the chairwoman of the search committee.

She said CMS is paying less to use a search firm.

The last time, CMS paid for a lot of a la carte services, Nunn said.

“All of their travel has to be approved by me, so we will do quite a few meetings via Zoom and only bring them here when absolutely necessary,” Nunn said.

The selection of finalists and their interviews will be done in secret.

Otherwise, officials said it could impact the candidate pool with some fearing losing their current jobs.

CMS said they were looking at the firm’s history with diversity, equity, and inclusion when searching. They also considered the firm’s experience conducting searches for other districts.

The deadline for superintendent applicants is March 10. The board hopes to start interviewing finalists by March 27.

Seven different people have led the second-largest school district in the state at one point over the last decade. Hugh Hattabaugh took on the role twice.

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