One of the five finalists for superintendent of Crittenden County schools has withdrawn from consideration.James Francis, a certified personnel specialist with Jefferson County Public School, notified The Crittenden Press on Monday that he was pulling out of consideration for the head of Crittenden County schools.
"I am happy at JCPS, and the timing on this is not conducive for my family and I," Francis wrote in an e-mail to the newspaper this morning.
Board of Education Chairman Chris Cook confirmed that Francis had notified the local board of his intentions to withdraw from consideration.
"Mr. Francis has withdrawn his application, so our last scheduled interview will actually be tonight," Cook said, shortly before an interview with now-final candidate Dr. Shirley Menendez was to take place.
Francis had been scheduled to interview Thursday. The board of education will now meet in closed session Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., to begin processing all of the information obtained from its four interviews – Menendez, Victor Zimmerman, Travis Hamby and Dr. Rachel Yarbrough.
May 20 remains the latest date by which the board intends to make a decision on its replacement for retiring John Belt.
