Incoming Superintendent Heath Morrison said Monday he has decided who he wants for two top jobs in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and hopes to make offers this week.
Morrison, who officially starts work July 1, said he spent a “long day” Saturday interviewing applicants for three top jobs that are open. He said CMS is doing final background checks on his top choice for two of those jobs. He could ask the board to approve contracts as early as next week.
The three openings are for chief operating officer (in charge of non-academic operations such as buildings, budget and transportation), chief information officer (technology) and chief accountability officer (testing and data). Morrison offered no details about how he’ll fill them and which one he’s still unsure of.
Morrison said he’s spending so much time on Charlotte business while wrapping up his work in Reno, Nev., because the Aug. 27 opening of school requires him to have a leadership team ready to start right away. The arrival of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte on Labor Day weekend creates even more decisions, such as how to reroute buses and whether to close schools that are near the uptown convention.
“I like to say, ‘Don’t try to be perfect. Try to be excellent,’” Morrison said. “We need to be perfect for that.”
On Sunday, Morrison visited Friendship Missionary Baptist and Christ Lutheran churches and had dinner with state school board member John Tate and wife Claire Tate, who runs a group focused on after-school and summer programs. Monday he visited the CMS summer teacher institute at Mallard Creek High, where hundreds of teachers are brushing up on academic topics and classroom techniques. He’ll also attend a Belk Foundation dinner Monday night.
He told the teachers he was supposed to leave Sunday but stayed an extra day to catch the summer institute.
“There’s nobody that is more important than our teachers,” he said.
