PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — The search is on for the new person to lead the children and teachers of Pinellas County Schools.
Current Superintendent Dr. Michael Grego is retiring at the end of June. Tonight will be the first chance for the community to get to say what type of person they would like to take over.
This is the first of three community forums this week being held all over the county.
The goal is to get as much involvement as possible by having an in-person meeting, also an in-person remote location and even making the forum available on Zoom.
The school board wants input from everyone this affects including parents, students, staff and teachers of the district, and even Pinellas County taxpayers.
They have hired a search firm to conduct the forums and go over the online surveys.
School board members will not be there in order to help people speak more freely, knowing the input they are giving is largely anonymous.
School Board member Carol Cook says this input is extremely important for them to consider when choosing a new superintendent.
"This is going to end up being a community superintendent for the entire school district and all of our partners. We definitely want their input as to what are they looking for, what do they think is important and then we will look at all that data and see if we can find that magical person," Cook said.
The district is on a tight timeline in this search.
The school board is hoping to identify the final candidates by late April, get them in for interviews in early May and then be able to select the next superintendent at the May 17 school board meeting.
Superintendent Grego officially retires on June 30.