JACKSON – The search is officially underway for a new Northampton County Schools Superintendent.

On Monday night, the Northampton County Board of Education approved documents from the North Carolina School Boards Association (NCSBA) to begin the superintendent search process.

Allison Schafer, NCSBA Director of Policy/Legal Counsel, presented a packet of information to board members.

Among the items board members received in their packets was a time line for the process, an application for candidates, an advertisement for the position and a community and staff survey.

The search process time line presented allows applications to be turned in until March 4. The board is projected to have candidates narrowed down by March 24 and the interviewing and checking of references will be done in April. The time line anticipates the announcement of a new schools superintendent by May 12.

Schafer also presented an advertisement that will run for 60 days on the NCSBA’s web site as well as the National School Boards Association (NSBA) website and a publication with the American Association of School Administrators. The advertisement has already been posted on both the NCSBA and NSBA’s web sites.

Hardcopies of the ad will also be distributed to each school system throughout the state.

The cost for advertising is estimated at $790.

A survey will also be distributed to allow school staff and citizens to gauge what qualities both groups would like to see in their next superintendent.

Northampton County Schools Dr. Kathi Gibson retired January 1 after three years with the school district.

Dr. Gibson will be returning to Northampton County in February or March to volunteer with the School Turnaround Program, one of the initiatives the superintendent helped bring to the district through a $1 million grant from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.