PERRYVILLE NARROWS SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH

PERRYVILLE -- Semi-finalists for the position of superintendent of the Perry County School District were selected last week, said a spokesman for the Perry County School Board.

Board members will interview the candidates in "the very near future."

Dr. James Comer, a consultant helping the board coordinate the search, said the semifinalists are being contacted. He refused to say how many semifinalists were chosen. He did say the board selected semifinalists from a pool of over 40 applicants.

Orville Schaefer, school board president, said last week board members would narrow the list to six.

Of the six semi-finalists selected, "two or three" of them will become finalists for the position, noted Schaefer.

Finalists' names will be announced in about two weeks, he said.

Schaefer compared the district's search for a superintendent to that of the Cape Girardeau School District. Two finalists for superintendent of the Cape Girardeau School District visited Cape Girardeau last week.

"We'll basically follow the same pattern as they are (following) in Cape by letting the finalists meet with people in the community as well as board members," said Schaefer.

Finalists will visit Perryville, meet with school administrators and then meet with members of the community, he said.

The two districts hired the same search consultant, Dr. W. Deane Wiley, a retired dean of the department of educational leadership at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.

An assistant of Wiley's, Comer, has been assisting the Perryville board with the search, Schaefer said.

The district's former superintendent, Larry Ackley, announced in late August he did not want his contract with the district renewed. Ackley was to keep his position until June 30, but was let go by the Board of Education Feb. 12.

Paul Turner, assistant superintendent, is now interim superintendent.

Schaefer said the move was mutually agreed upon between the board and Ackley, but added it was "definitely a board initiative."

Board members and Ackley agreed that Ackley would not perform day-to-day duties as the superintendent, but that he would continue in an advisory position with the district.

Schaefer explained: "There was a lot of tension and antagonism between the board and the superintendent. It got to the point where it was difficult for us to work together anymore."

He said "differences of opinion" between Ackley and the board had been building for some time.

Ackley had been an administrator in the Perryville school district for 15 years, eight as assistant superintendent before being named to the head post seven years ago.

The new superintendent will begin his post July 1.