DALTON, Ga. — The Dalton Board of Education hopes to have a new superintendent in place by March after two new board members take their seats, Chairman Rick Fromm said.

Fromm and current board members Tulley Johnson, Sherwood Jones, Steve Laird and Pablo Perez along with members-elect Matt Evans and Palmer Griffin met in executive session — closed to the public and the media — for more than an hour on Monday.

Fromm said the process of culling the 17 applicants down to an interview pool is coming along.

“We decided today on which candidates we will offer interviews to, and we hope to have interviews in January,” Fromm said. “We have at least five we will interview and we have some others that we have a few follow-up questions before deciding if we want to take the next step with them.”

Jim Hawkins stepped down as superintendent in June after eight-and-a-half years and remains employed by the school system through the end of his contract in December 2018. Don Amonett is currently interim superintendent. According to the state website Open Georgia (www.open.georgia.gov), Hawkins made a salary of $200,561 in 2016, the latest year for which information is available.

In the posting for the position, “a negotiated compensation arrangement with a mix of salary, health benefits and professional travel” will be provided. According to the job posting, the superintendent position has been deemed as a “head of agency” hire and under state law at least three finalists for the position must be publicly released 14 days in advance of a hiring decision by the board. If the position is not deemed as a “head of agency” hire, then records on all 17 applicants must be released.

Fromm said there was “general agreement” on the five selected so far and the Georgia School Boards Association (GSBA) — which is assisting in the search — has made the search streamlined.

“The GSBA process helps with that, and all of the candidates are all well-qualified,” Fromm said. “Now it is our job to find the best fit for the system. We are looking for a wide-breadth of experience and someone with a proven record.”

Fromm said past experience as a superintendent is not necessarily a requirement. He said the plan is to conduct interviews in January and have the board hire a new superintendent in February and have a new superintendent working by March.

The system is paying GSBA as an outside search firm $8,500 to assist in the search while also helping to vet candidates. However, the school board will have final say on who is hired, and a hiring decision will not take place until the new board is in place.

Evans said he has been impressed with the pool of candidates.

“All of the candidates we are looking at have the potential for what we are looking for as a school system and a community,” said Evans, who won a seat over Laird in the November election. “As I said in the campaigning, we are looking for a leader and an instructional leader. We are looking for someone who will fall in love with this community and be part of this community and be involved.”

Evans and Griffin will take office in January. Griffin won his seat in November over Jones and John Conley.