J. Belinda Forman, Superintendent of Lewis County Schools, will be stepping down from that position effective June 30.
News of her departure comes less than 10 months after she was named to replace Maurice Reeder Jr., who had held the position for 18 years.
Her contract with the school district was for 23 months and would have ended on June 30, 2017. Her first day as superintendent was August 1, 2015.
Forman was to be paid $130,000.00 per year with the first year prorated at 11 months, according to the terms of the contract.
A special meeting of the Lewis County Board of Education has been scheduled for Monday. The only item of business on the agenda is to “approve resignation of J. Belinda Forman as of June 30, 2016.”
“We will have a lot of things to consider in light of Mrs. Forman’s resignation,” said Board Chair Bryan McRoberts of the board.
“I’m sure we will consider naming an interim superintendent,” he said. “Someone who can take care of the day-to-day matters until we, as a board, have a chance to address finding and choosing a new superintendent.”
McRoberts said he didn’t know any specifics concerning news of Forman’s departure.
Forman had worked tirelessly for passage of the “nickel tax” to fund replacing Central Elementary and other improvements in the school district. An election was held in December with voters approving the tax levy which will amount to about 6.2 cents per $100 evaluation on property.
She recommended the architect for the Central Elementary Project that was approved by board members last week.
“This is my recommendation so we can get started on this project tomorrow,” Forman told board members at the May 9 meeting before they voted to approve alt32 of Lexington as the project architect.
Forman was asked by the board in December to come up with a plan to address a projected budget shortfall of $500,000. Parts of her plan were approved by the board while some of her recommendations were put on hold.
Forman also looked into an administrative change for the Foster Meade Career and Technical Center at the request of the board.
Forman suggested keeping the high school and vocational school separate while eliminating the position of principal at the vocational school.
Board members approved her recommendation during the regular session of the board last week.
Forman had retired from the district in 2009 as assistant superintendent and director of federal programs.
She had earlier served as principal at Lewis County Middle School and prior to that was a teacher in the district.
She had been involved with the Lewis County Educational Foundation prior to being named superintendent.
Board members had interviewed six applicants before naming Forman to the position last July.
Those six applicants were chosen by a screening committee from among the 22 applications received by the district.
Members of the screening committee reviewed all the applications and held preliminary telephone interviews prior to narrowing the field of candidates.
The board of education had approved contracting with the KSBA to assist in the search at a cost of $8,000.00.
“I appreciate Mrs. Forman’s hard work for the district,” McRoberts said.
“We will take our time and do our due diligence in finding the right person that will fit our school district,” he said of the board’s next steps. “We will want to make the transition as seamless as possible but we won’t rush the process even if it takes hiring someone during the interim.”
“We want to do what is best for the students, staff, teachers and all the people of Lewis County,” McRoberts added.
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