Board narrows attorney candidates to three

BROOKSVILLE Only one more meeting to go for interviews before school board members might make a decision as to who will be their attorney.

During the afternoon school board workshop Tuesday, board members agreed to hold final interviews on March 13 with another workshop slated after to discuss who to begin negotiating with.

Most discussed Tuesday were Richard Withers, an attorney from Daytona Beach, Denise Lynn, an Inverness attorney and and the firm of McClain, Alfonso, Meeker & Dunn — the same group that provides legal services for the Paso County School District.

Vice Chairman Matt Foreman, who himself is an attorney, recommended that board members take another 15-30 minutes interviewing the candidates one more time before moving forward in deciding who to begin negotiations with.

He said he would like the district to negotiate with more than one applicant at the same time.

Board Member James Yant applauded that approach along with other board members, who addressed the importance of finding a perfect fit for the district.

Superintendent Bryan Blavatt added he wanted to sit in on some of those interviews also, since he would be working with the chosen candidate.

The school board has been searching for a new attorney since Paul Carland resigned to represent the Broward County school district.

Since that time, they've been contracting with McClain, Alfonso, Meeker & Dunn for legal services and has paid $66,536 to the firm out of a budgeted $105,000. board members recently agreed to pay another $24,000 for them to continue providing those services for the next two months.

Meanwhile, board members have not yet determined whether they would hire inside or outside counsel. That determination will likely come after the final interviews in March.