8 candidates seek to lead Concordia Parish schools

VIDALIA, La. (AP) - Eight people have applied to lead a central Louisiana school district that borders Mississippi to the east.

Concordia Parish School Board President Fred Butcher this week released the names of the applicants seeking to replace Superintendent Whest Shirley, whose contract was not renewed last year. Shirley began his tenure in 2017 after working 10 years as an administrator and 22 years as a teacher in Vidalia. He’s been on a month-to-month contract while the board searches for his successor.

The eight applicants include:

- Troy Bell, currently employed with Franklin Parish School Board in Winnsboro as a child welfare and attendance supervisor;

- Montrell Greene, minister at Sycamore Street Church of Christ in Greenwood and founder and executive director at Empowerment 360 Foundation and Montrell Greene Ministries;

- Susan M. Henson, interim superintendent of New Hampshire School Administrative Unit No. 44, Northwood, New Hampshire;

- Arlana Lewin, director of academics and student learning at Madison Parish School Board in Tallulah;

- James Todd Stroder, superintendent of Rogersville City Schools in Rogersville, Tennessee;

- Karen E. Tutor, retired Mississippi school superintendent and educator from McCall Creek and an independent educational consultant;

- Chanel Howard-Veazy, assistant superintendent of schools in Crockett Independent School District in Crockett, Texas;

- Toyua Watson, director of secondary education for the Concordia Parish School Board.

The deadline to apply for the superintendent’s position was March 22, The Natchez Democrat reported.

During Thursday’s regular school board meeting, board members said they would start performing background checks on each of the applicants before interviewing them.