Make your voice heard!

Contact: Lisa Deffendall • First Posted: Saturday, June 4, 2011

Public forums, small group meetings, online questions and email comments are just some of the ways the community can get involved in the selection of the next Fayette County Public Schools superintendent.

On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, each of the three finalists for the district’s highest leadership position will spend a full day meeting with small groups of local residents representing employees, students, parents and community members. The seven panels will then provide feedback to the school board about their impressions.

The finalists are Clark County Superintendent Elaine Farris, Daviess County Superintendent Tom Shelton and Jessamine County Superintendent Lu Young. Young will interview June 7, Shelton on June 8 and Farris on June 9.

FCPS will host a 3 p.m. daily news conference that will air live on the district’s dedicated cable Channel 13. It will be replayed at 11:30 p.m. the same night and at 11 a.m. the next day after each candidate’s visit. The news conferences will also be available via video on demand.

Each evening at 5:30 p.m., the community is encouraged to attend a public forum in Norsworthy Auditorium at the school district’s 701 East Main Street office. Because of the graduation ceremonies broadcast schedule, the forums cannot air live, but each will replay at 7 p.m. the evening of each finalist’s visit and at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. the next day.

Before the public forums, the community is invited to suggest questions to be posed to each finalist. Submit questions by 2 p.m. Tuesday June 7:

• Online
• By email

Community members also are invited to tell the school board what they think about each candidate by emailing superinput@fayette.kyschools.us. Emails sent there will be delivered to all five school board members.

“We look forward to the interview process and the opportunity for the candidates to interact with our community,” said board Chair John Price. “The full day of meeting with our stakeholders will allow us to learn more about each of them and evaluate their performance in order to find the right superintendent to continue to move our district forward for kids.”