Schools soon to get new leader

The long-running search for Richmond's next school superintendent has reached the candidate stage.

In a special meeting last night, the School Board received a list of potential new leaders. The board opened and promptly closed the meeting, citing confidential personnel matters.

Tom Farrell, the Dominion Resources chief and the head of the School Board-appointed committee in charge of finding candidates, was on hand and was allowed to remain in the closed meeting. He would not comment on whether he was presenting a list of candidates, though he said this month that his committee would finish its work before today.

School Board Chairwoman Chandra Smith declined to name the candidates.

Several board members said interviews with the five candidates will be conducted tomorrow and Saturday. Those sessions will be closed to the public, and the board declined to disclose their locations.

Those members also said the board would likely choose a superintendent during its Jan. 21 meeting but that an announcement would have to wait until the person passed a background check. That could take until Jan. 27, the state-mandated deadline for filling the position, she said.

Yvonne Brandon has served as interim superintendent of the system since Aug. 1, the day after former chief Deborah Jewell-Sherman left to accept an administrative position at Harvard University.

Brandon is believed to be among the finalists, though no one involved with the search would say.

Contact Zachary Reid at (804) 775-8179 or .