The search for a new superintendent of schools to replace retiring Dr. James Price will get under way Thursday at 6 p.m. at a called meeting of the Vicksburg Warren School District Board of Trustees.

“It’s an initial meeting to begin moving the ball forward,” said Tommy Shelton, trustee vice president.

It’s the third time in 10 years that trustees have initiated a superintendent search, following the retirement in 2000 of Robert Pickett and in 2003 of Donald Oakes.

Price, 58, superintendent since July 1, 2003, announced his retirement March 30, to take effect at the end of the 2010 fiscal year, June 30.

Shelton said the board may appoint an interim superintendent before conducting a more thorough search.

To replace Pickett, two consultants were hired to recruit applicants, conduct initial interviews and make recommendations. They also created a VWSD brochure to promote the district to potential applicants.

In addition, in keeping with the district’s Action Plan approved in 1997, trustees appointed a 15-member search committee made up of teachers, other district staff and parents.

Replacing Pickett with Oakes took more than a year.

After Oakes announced his retirement in January 2003, the board decided not to hire a consultant — estimated to cost $8,000 — and instead hired two retired educators, paid $2,500 each, to coordinate the search. Trustees interviewed the candidates.

Price was named superintendent about five months later.

Both searches also featured town-hall-type sessions where the finalists fielded inquiries from teachers, parents and others on such issues as discipline, staff morale, school accountability and communication.

In 2000 the superintendent was paid $75,000 a year. Price was hired at $104,000, a salary that was bumped to his current $140,000 in 2004.

Thursday’s meeting was announced Monday. Trustee president Zelmarine Murphy was attending a meeting of a national school board association in Chicago and not available.

Murphy, the board’s longest-serving member, was also president during the 2000-2001 selection process, and vice president during the 2003 search. Other board members — Shelton, secretary Joe Loviza, former president Jerry Boland and Jim Stirgus Jr. — have been elected since Price was hired.

The Vicksburg Warren School District, serving about 9,000 students in 15 schools, was formed July 1, 1987, when the former Vicksburg Municipal Separate School District and Warren County Public Schools merged.

Only when it was formed did the district’s trustees opt for a non-local applicant. Ed Gilley of Tennessee was the first superintendent, followed by Charles Craft, Pickett, Oakes and Price.

Contact Pamela Hitchins at phitchins@vicksburgpost.com