The Montgomery County Board of Education on Wednesday will name an interim superintendent to run the county’s public school system during the 2015-2016 school year.
The school system made the announcement Tuesday, two days after the board’s “preferred candidate” withdrew his name from consideration.
The announcement didn’t say who the interim superintendent will be. The board is set to make the appointment at a 3 p.m. meeting in Rockville.
The appointment will require written approval by the state superintendent of schools.
Andrew Houlihan, the 36-year-old chief academic officer of the Houston Independent School District, was named as the board’s preferred choice last week to replace former superintendent Joshua Starr, who left in February after learning the board would not be renewing his four-year contract.
But those with knowledge of Houlihan’s meeting with a community panel set up by the board to vet candidates said the panel was concerned that Houlihan had never served as a superintendent.
A source involved in the process said Houlihan’s withdrawal from consideration left the board with little time to find a new permanent superintendent by July 1.
Interim Superintendent Larry Bowers, who took over for Starr in February, is set to retire in June. It’s unclear if Bowers was convinced to stay on for the next school year.
The school system said the interim superintendent to be appointed Wednesday will serve July 1 through June 30, 2016.
The school system didn’t say when the search for a new permanent superintendent would resume.
