PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Philadelphia School Board has started to narrow a list of more than 400 people interested in succeeding William Hite as schools superintendent.
"This is a city that reflects diversity across the board, and the candidate pool, I would say, is starting to reflect that," School Board Vice President Leticia Egea-Hinton told KYW Newsradio.
"The search is moving forward nicely. It's reflecting what the city looks like."
After a decade as superintendent, Hite is leaving his position in July to become CEO of the Cincinnati-based education nonprofit KnowledgeWorks.
64% of the applicants are Black, 14% are Hispanic and 7% are white. 71% are men and 21% identified as women, Egea-Hinton said.
"About 21% of them have leadership experience in the School District," she said.
"All of them have some form of experience working in education or have led major organizations or institutions.
The board is beginning to narrow down that field of 400, but Egea-Hinton wouldn't reveal the size of the smaller candidate pool.
"I'm not going to really share a number, because it's changing day to day as we get applications," she said.
The board has hired the search firm Isaacson, Miller to find candidates. A job description for the Philadelphia superintendent's position was developed after the board gathered public input on what people wanted to see in a new leader.
A 13-member advisory committee will help the board interview candidates in the coming weeks, with the public getting an opportunity to meet and question the two finalists in March.
The board aims to select a new superintendent this spring.
