Superintendent search trimmed to 15

Two local candidates are safe with one former Hernando High School principal being eliminated from the applicant list for superintendent as search committee members eliminate 14 candidates from the application pool.

Both interim Superintendent Sonya Jackson and Hernando High School Principal Ken Pritz are still in the running while former Hernando High principal Elaine Sullivan was eliminated from the list.

Joe Vitalo, now chairman of the superintendent search committee, said applicants were trimmed to include those with experience in top administrative seats. One applicant also was dropped due to it being submitted after the Friday deadline while another candidate took another job in North Carolina.

During Wednesday's first committee meeting, he said the board began going through applications one-by-one to determine whether they had the credentials to be further considered.

"One thing I said during the meeting is that I'm tired of this district being used as a training ground to boost resumes," Vitalo said. "We need a top-level administrator."

He said during the next meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at the board office, committee members would further trim the candidate list the same way.

Following that meeting, he said committee members would submit the final candidate list for board members' approval. He added the committee was directed to keep the list under 10 applications.