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A search for a new director of schools has been narrowed down to three candidates, and Franklin County High School Principal Dr. Roger Alsup is one of them.

The School Board hired the Tennessee School Boards Association to do the research and background work to determine who the three finalists would be, and Ben Torres, the association’s assistant executive director and general counsel, presented the list during Monday’s regular monthly meeting.

In addition to Alsup, the other two finalists include Dr. Cary Holman, LaVergne Middle School principal, and Dr. Chris Treadway, principal at Poplar Grove Middle School in the Franklin Special School District.

The board is planning to do interviews on Feb. 21 and Feb. 23, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Plans are to have two candidates interviewed on the Tuesday schedule with the third round taking place on the subsequent Thursday, depending on how the candidates can fit those time frames into their schedules.

Torres said the TSBA had conducted an extensive search, and Alsup, Holman and Treadway emerged at the top of the field.

School Board Member Sarah Marhevsky asked if the board would have other options to interview additional candidates.

Torres advised the board to interview the finalists, and if board members desire, other candidates could be interviewed afterward.

Alsup has been the FCHS principal since 2016 after moving to Franklin County from Missouri where he had gained considerable experience in the teaching and educational administrative fields there.

Holman has been the LaVergne Middle School principal since 2010. He was also a principal at Central Middle School in Murfreesboro, and he taught at the Homer Pittard Campus School in Murfreesboro.

He was also Clark Memorial Elementary School’s principal from August 2001 to May 2003.

Treadway has been the Poplar Grove Middle School principal since 2016, has been a principal at Rock Springs Middle School in Rutherford County and has teaching and administrative experience at several other Rutherford County Schools.

The new director will replace Stanley Bean who told the board on Nov. 14, 2022, that he is retiring, and his contract expires on June 30. Bean said he does not wish to continue working in his position beyond then.

Incidentally, Nov. 14, 2022, was Bean’s 68^th birthday. He had said he’s at retirement age, and education law changes, stemming from the state level, have swayed him into pursuing retirement.

The COVID-19 pandemic plagued academic performance nationwide, and Tennessee is taking action to address shortfalls in the educational field.

Bean referred to the Tennessee Learning Loss Remediation and Student Acceleration Act, which was passed in January 2021, and says third-grade students who score below “proficient” on their reading test scores could be held back if they don’t attend summer school or commit to a year of intensive tutoring.

He said the uncertainty about how students would be required to make up lost ground is presenting school systems and educators with extremely difficult challenges.

Another issue complicating the picture, Bean said, is changes being made to the school-funding program at the state level.

The Legislature has passed the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement Act, or TISA, which sets a base funding rate of $6,860 per pupil, then distributes additional funding for students who are from economically disadvantaged families, have unique learning needs or live in rural or impoverished communities.

Bean said the funding formula has many uncertainties, and even though the School Board has discussed some kind of bonus or pay increase for employees, no commitment has been made because what the system might receive is unclear.

He used an example that if he were to stay on another year, it would be more difficult for a new director to come in after him, and his successor would have lost ground in becoming familiar with the complicated changes in the educational field.

Bean said it would be better for a new director to be on board when the new changes go into effect this year so that person can become familiar with the issues from the outset, leading to less confusion.