VALDOSTA — The Valdosta City School System is moving into the last phase of its superintendent’s search, after selecting Dr. William (Bill) Cason as the top finalist, among 50 initial applications.

The process to find a new superintendent began following the retirement announcement of Superintendent Sam Allen, who was selected to conduct the search process which began in August. Since that time, the board has worked diligently to move the process along, in hopes of securing a final candidate before the Christmas holidays.

Fifty applications were accepted, and upon review, a selection of candidates were chosen for interviews during two special called meetings held Nov. 16 and 17. From that group, five final candidates were selected: Dr. William O. Cason, Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Business Affairs of Valdosta City Schools; Dr. Deborah L. Demps, Curriculum Director for Brooks County School System; Dr. Eric A. King, Superintendent of Schools, School District 159, Matteson, Illinois; Martin Roesch, Principal of Valdosta Middle School; Brett Stanton, Principal of Valdosta High School.

Board members considered their individual recommendations during the Thanksgiving Break and returned for a special called meeting held Monday, recommending Dr. Cason as the top superintendent finalist.

Although moving away for some time, Dr. Cason is a native of the area, coming from Homerville Ga., and earning his bachelor’s degree from Valdosta State College in 1968. Continuing his education at VSC, he attained a master’s degree in history and administration-supervision in 1970 and 1972 respectively, and later received his Doctorate in Education Administration-Supervision from Georgia State University in 1986.

Dr. Cason began his career in education in the classroom, teaching history and math before a group of students, the same place where he himself learned what he wanted to do in life.

“I’ve known what I wanted from the time I was a high school student, and my entire career has been spent in education,” Dr. Cason said. “I had good teachers and I saw positive things in the classroom, but the thing that motivated me toward this the most actually, was a negative comment from one of my teachers who didn’t believe that I’d be successful after high school.”

Dr. Cason has in fact been successful in his own education, and throughout his work within the field. Beginning in the classrooms of Clinch County High in 1968, his own high school alma mater, he also served Clinch County Junior High as a math instructor, PE coach, assistant football and basketball coach.

In 1972, Dr. Cason served as an assistant principal/counselor at Crisp County High, later became Principal of Toombs Central School, and in 1977 served as principal of Miller County High School. Then, in 1987 Dr. Cason was appointed Associate Superintendent for Finance and Administrative Services with the LaGrange (GA) School System.

In the past decade, Dr. Cason has led two school districts in North Carolina, both a bit larger than the Valdosta System, in Sumpter County and Colleton County.

After returning to Georgia upon retirement in 2002, Dr. Cason began working with the Ingram Parrish Group as an educational consultant and the Georgia School Board Association Risk Management Department as a consultant.

In 2005, Dr. Cason was hired by the Valdosta School System to serve as the Assistant Superintendent of Finance, and since that time, he has continued to work with the board and system employees as a whole, to maintain prudent financial decisions and practices.

Since coming to the school system, Dr. Cason and his financial staff have been able to rebuild the system’s fund balance to what he calls a “comfortable place,” up now from about $500,000 when he first came three years ago, to nearly $7 million today.

“I have to make sure that my staff gets the credit they deserve, because I cannot do this without them,” Dr. Cason said. “The work that’s been done since I’ve been in this position shows that some very positive things can be accomplished with hard work and planning.”

Looking over his work both in the classroom and as the system’s chief financial advisor, he believes that his combined experience and attitude for strategic planning will help him to lead the Valdosta School System.

“I believe the key part of being a superintendent is having knowledge of school finances and school curriculum,” he said. “I’ve had experience at every level, K-12, and as a superintendent and also in school finance, and I believe all those things lend themselves to being successful as a superintendent of schools. I’ve had the opportunity to do the things that I’m asking others to do.”

Dr. Cason says that his primary objective is to raise the bar of achievement for all students within the school system.

“We have to do things to address the needs of lower achieving students and I believe in order to do that, we have to begin addressing some issues early on. I believe the primary reason for that (under-achievement) is because structure is not in place and there is a lack of focus — trying too many things at one time,” Dr. Cason said. “I think it’s essential for our kids to be pushed harder because they are capable of achieving so much more, and so as a staff, we have to do a much better job of planning for instruction, meaning staff development.”

In the past year, Dr. Cason has joined Valdosta High School administrators in pushing for the implementation of an International Baccalaureate Program, and also supports the idea of partnering with the higher education institutions of this community in hopes that the ventures will raise the achievement of both high and low performing students.

“We have already come a long way in addressing the needs of both our low and high performing students, and we must stay committed to this because we can’t afford to let any of our kids fail,” said Cason.

Now that the board has selected Cason as the finalist in the superintendent’s search, the community will join the final selection process, by sharing their comments with the board during the next two weeks. Public comments can be submitted in the form of a letter to the board, or by e-mail, as well as on the VBOE Web site. The comments period is 14 days, and after Dec. 14 the board will call a special BOE meeting to vote on the finalist, according to Superintendent Sam Allen.