Ten search firms apply to find next Schools' director

Ten search firms have applied to help Metro Nashville Public Schools find a replacement for former Director of Schools Pedro Garcia.

The deadline for firms applying was the end of the business day Friday. Among the applicants is Cascade Consulting Group, the Bellevue, Wash., company the district contracted to find Garcia.

The slate includes Nashville-area companies GlobalRecruiters Network, the Human Capital Group, the Tennessee School Boards Association, and Stanton Chase International. Other prospective firms hail from Illinois, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Iowa.

School board member George Thompson said the slate appears to be promising.

“I think it was a pretty decent turnout,” he said. “I’m satisfied.”

The school board initially received applications from six firms earlier this month, a number small enough that board members voted to push back the deadline for applications. The concern among board members was that companies weren’t given sufficient time to apply.

The board is expected to conduct a full national search for a new director of schools. Board members have said they want to get a replacement for Garcia in place by June, because they’d otherwise have to wait until October – Tennessee law limits hiring activities of school boards around the time of elections.

The search that resulted in the hiring of Garcia cost the district a total of about $100,000, according to Thompson. Mayor Karl Dean has publicly offered to raise funds for a national search from private sources, so that the process would not require money from the district’s operating budget.