Today marks the end of the legally required 21-day waiting period for the official appointment of Dr. Robin Battershell as Temple’s new superintendent. The board of trustees will meet today to vote on the decision.
“Today the board of trustees is voting to hire Robin Battershell,” Regina Baird, spokeswoman for Temple ISD, said. “They have had to wait until now, by law. And now, after waiting 21 days, the discovery period is finally over.”
The end of the waiting period is the end of an even longer process that began as far back as November, when the board first hired the Texas Association of School Boards to direct the search for a new superintendent.
In late January, TASB consultants visited the district to discuss desired attributes for the superintendent. The TASB then used the list of attributes to evaluate 42 applicants for the position. The board selected five of those applicants to interview in late March.
From those five, two were asked back for a second interview. One of those was Dr. Battershell, the Salado ISD superintendent for 10 years. Her accomplishments include a doctorate of education from Baylor University, experience as a consultant to the National Communities in Schools in Washington, D.C., adjunct professorship at Tarleton State and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, three grown children and native roots in Central Texas.
In April, after the second interviews, the board unanimously voted to appoint Dr. Battershell as the lone finalist for the position. Then came the legally required waiting period.
“The purpose of the meeting is for them to vote to hire Dr. Battershell, so she can sign her contract and name a start date,” Ms. Baird said.
But the purpose of the meeting is not to challenge Dr. Battershell’s candidacy, Ms. Baird said.
“The purpose of the meeting isn’t about questioning her as a finalist. That’s what the waiting period was for - for any last-minute revelations, anything questionable to come to life,” Ms. Baird said. “Of course, we didn’t expect anything like that from Dr. Battershell. I think she’ll be great for our organization. But the waiting period would’ve been the time for her to withdraw as the lone finalist. Now we will just vote officially.”
And now, with the exit of Dr. Battershell from Salado, Salado ISD will most likely hire an interim superintendent at least until they can complete a similar search for a permanent replacement.
Jeff Kelley, president of Salado’s board of trustees, says the board plans to meet May 5 to discuss its options.
“Right now, we’re gonna’ be leaning towards hiring a search committee for the interviewing process,” Kelley said. “It’s possible that we’ll hire an interim superintendent, as well. But the meeting on May fifth will determine exactly which route we plan to take.”
Kelley said the search committee they plan to hire could be TASB or it could be another one.
“There are several different search committees that are available,” Kelley said. “We’ve already composed a list and gotten information on them. But May fifth will be when we make the decisions.”
