Superintendent Jewell-Sherman off to Harvard July 31st

Hopefully, Richmond won’t have to scramble to quickly replace Superintendent Deborah Jewell-Sherman who just annouced she will be leaving as of July 31st to go to Harvard.   What we need is someone really good to replace her.

Once she leaves, the School Board has 180 days to hire a full-time replacement. While that window won’t expire until late January, the Board is prohibited by state law from acting on its search between the November election and the first of the year, when the new Board is seated.

The Board is expected to ask assistant superintendent for instruction Yvonne Brandon to serve as interim superintendent. Brandon, the only upper-tier administrator not retiring or otherwise stating a desire to leave the system, was recently a finalist for the superintendent position in Memphis.