| Anna L. Mallory

anna.mallory@roanoke.com, 381-8627

Florida Today

Brenda Blackburn

Martinsville Bulletin

Scott Kizner

www.hpsd.k12.ms.us

Annie Wimbish

Montgomery County School Board Chairman Wendell Jones said Thursday that deciding among the three finalists who want to be the county's superintendent will be a challenge because they all bring diverse backgrounds to the table.

The school board announced Thursday that the finalists are Martinsville City Superintendent Scott Kizner; Annie Wimbish, superintendent in Hattiesburg Public Schools in Mississippi; and Brenda Blackburn, associate superintendent for the Brevard County Public Schools in Florida.

All three are scheduled to be in Montgomery County on Monday to talk with staff and introduce themselves to the community at a 7 p.m. forum at Christiansburg Middle School.

Kizner and Wimbish come from smaller school systems, but all three have improved their schools academically. Montgomery County has 20 schools and about 9,800 students.

Kizner, who has been superintendent since 2005, now earns $147,000, including a stipend for his doctoral degree.

The city's district has about 2,500 students in three elementary schools, two secondary schools and a Governor's School. Kizner applied for but did not get the superintendent's job in Alexandria last year.

Martinsville has an 86.3 percent on-time graduation rate -- about 6 percentage points higher than Montgomery County -- according to the Virginia Department of Education, and it has been commended for its achievements.

Kizner instituted a requirement that all students take part in 40 hours of organized community service before graduation. In May, he announced plans to create a student health clinic that would offer tests for pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.

He said Thursday he wants to help Montgomery County boost academic performance among black students and those with disabilities.

Jones said Kizner makes sure to be the "face of the school system" and that he understands the challenges facing Virginia's schools.

"We just got a real sense that a lot of things that Dr. [Tiffany] Anderson had started he was going to be able to pick it up and go with it," Jones said.

Anderson left in June to become head of a charter school in Kansas City, Mo.

Wimbish has been with the Mississippi district since 2005. She earns $161,000.

Hattiesburg Public Schools, which is 92 percent black, is a high-poverty and low-performing school system. It has about 4,500 students in six elementary schools, two secondary schools and an alternative program.

In 2007, about 28 percent of its high school students dropped out, but under Wimbish's leadership, that number was cut to 11.2 percent the following year, according to district records.

Hattiesburg is the home of the University of Southern Mississippi.

Jones said the board chose Wimbish, in part, because she knows how to work with universities and create partnerships.

Blackburn said she has been wanting to move to the chief's position. She has been the associate superintendent in charge of curriculum -- essentially the district's second in command -- since 2003. She earns $123,500.

Earlier this year, she was turned down for her division's superintendent spot.

Jones said he appreciated Blackburn -- who began her teaching career in Danville in the 1970s -- because she was direct and to the point in her answers.

Brevard is the 10th largest district in Florida with 86 schools, eight charter schools and 17 alternative programs. The division, along Florida's Space Coast, has one of the state's highest dual-enrollment rates, meaning students can earn college credit during high school. It boasts a 93 percent graduation rate.

On Thursday, Blackburn said she would want to build strong relationships with Montgomery County students who are at risk for dropping out.

Each of the candidates' experiences could be helpful to Montgomery County. The district has said it wants to work on erasing academic gaps between its minority students and increasing partnerships, among other things.

Before the forum Monday, candidates will meet with staff in the school system's central office, the Montgomery County Education Association, the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors and others, Jones said.

The board spent more than 20 hours this week preparing for and interviewing the seven semifinalists, he said. The board finished that Wednesday.

More than 150 people contacted Iowa-based search firm Ray and Associates about the position, but it received 50 applications.

Last week, the firm suggested 13 candidates from that pool, and the board narrowed those to seven and then three. The position is advertised to pay $150,000.

Jones said the board plans to meet in closed session after the forum to discuss the applicants further.

Jones also said he wants someone hired by Dec. 25.