[04/23/03]Two local administrators and one from the Gulf Coast have been chosen as finalists in the search for a superintendent of the Vicksburg Warren School District.

Dr. James Price, administrative assistant to the superintendent here; Agnes Lyles, assistant superintendent for the district; and Dr. Kim Stasny, superintendent of the Bay St. Louis-Waveland School District are the finalists. They will be interviewed May 17, the day after a town hall-type meeting.

District 1 Trustee Chad Barrett said he thinks the three finalists are “head and shoulders” above the rest of the candidates.

“We’ll do well with any of the three,” he said. “They each have significant strengths as to what they can offer the district.”

The final candidates stood out as the most qualified, said Jan Daigre, District 4 trustee.

Lyles has been employed with the district for 33 years and has served as teacher, assistant principal, curriculum coordinator for the district and vocational director. She was appointed assistant superintendent by Donald Oakes after he was named superintendent three years ago. Oakes is retiring in June.

Price began his career in 1974 at All Saints’ Episcopal School and from there became principal of the Williams Attendance Center on the Oakley Training School campus. He was also the owner of a real estate development company before serving as a teacher and principal in the district. Price served as chairman of the district’s Discipline Review Committee and as the 504 Compliance Officer before his appointment last year as an administrative assistant for the district, overseeing transportation, support services and athletics.

Stasny has been an educator for 23 years and has worked in the Lumberton Public School District, on the Lamar and Pearl River county lines; Simpson County School District; Laurel School District; and Hancock County School District. She has been superintendent of the 2,400-student Bay St. Louis-Waveland School District for four years.

The finalists were chosen last week after board members individually reviewed the nine applications the district received, said Kay Aasand, Vicksburg Warren School District board president and District 5 trustee.

Board members began the search in January. Rather than employ a consulting firm, two retired educators were hired to seek and screen applications. No salary has been set for a new superintendent. Oakes is paid $104,000 per year.

About 20 people attended the first town hall-type meeting the trustees held to seek comments on what parents and others expect in a superintendent. Trustees who commented said they hope the next meeting, to be held May 16, will have a better turnout. Low attendance was blamed in part to spring break.

The finalists will be at the meeting, Aasand said.

“We feel it’s important for the public to be able to see these three people and ask them questions,” Aasand said.

Watching the candidates under fire is another reason for the meeting, Barrett said.

“The board will be able to see how the candidates react to questions and to pressure,” he said, adding that building a relationship with the public is a superintendent’s duty.

The candidates will be privately interviewed by board members the following day. Aasand said board members could make a decision then.

“We could decide then or we could go home and think about it and go through our notes,” Aasand said.

District 2 Trustee Zelmarine Murphy could not be reached for comment and Betty Tolliver, District 3 trustee, declined comment.

The 9,000-student public school district covers all of Warren County and was formed by consolidating separate city and county districts in 1986. Previous superintendents have been Ed Gilley, Charles Craft and Robert Pickett.