Williamson County's 40,000-student school district may shield superintendent candidates from public view after board members signaled support for a confidential search.
At a Thursday, Oct. 8, work session, the Williamson County Board of Education agreed it leaned toward keeping candidate identities private, Williamson Scene first reported. The move would make Williamson County one of the first Tennessee districts to conduct a search under HB 2616, a state law that took effect May 21, 2026. The law allows governing bodies to interview candidates for director-level positions in closed executive sessions. All deliberations and final votes must still occur in public.
The consensus is not yet binding.
Work sessions do not include formal votes, and board attorney Sam Jackson said at a Sept. 17 work session that the confidentiality provision must be adopted as official policy before it takes effect.
"If we go the confidential route, that confidentiality starts in this room because if someone gets disclosed who doesn't want to be disclosed, we might as well not have done this," Jackson told board members Oct. 8.
The board hired search firm ZEAL by an 8-4 vote earlier this fall. ZEAL founder and CEO Jeff Melendez outlined the firm's approach at the work session, telling the board that candidates "listen very closely" to public statements and urging members to avoid taking positions on any applicant.
District 3 board member Dennis Driggers called community engagement the top priority in the search. At the Sept. 17 work session, Driggers had described using the new confidentiality law as being "the tip of the spear" in Tennessee, acknowledging the district would be a test case.
ZEAL plans to build a 12- to 15-page leadership profile from community input. A ThoughtExchange online platform will open one week before in-person stakeholder sessions, giving residents time to consider what qualities they want in the next superintendent. The board identified teachers, staff, families, students, community organizations and special-education-related groups as stakeholders who should be heard.
The timeline targets a preferred candidate by April 19, 2027, with May 17, 2027, as a possible deadline for board approval of a contract. The selected superintendent would receive a three-year deal. Internal and external candidates will be evaluated on the same criteria, meaning interim superintendent Leigh Webb can apply on the same basis as outside applicants. Webb's contract runs through May 2027.
ZEAL's fee is $48,950. Optional national advertising and more extensive background checks would add to that cost. The board has budgeted between $100,000 and $103,000 for the full search.
The district said it will publish regular updates in its In Focus newsletter. No specific date has been announced for when the ThoughtExchange platform will open or when community engagement sessions will begin.
