The Jefferson County School Board has named Dr. Donna Hargens as the new superintendent.Hargens is Cheif Academic Officer of Wake County Public Schools in North Carolina.The announcement comes after a four and half hour school board meeting today, most of it was in closed session. Organizations, last week, called for the school board to re open the search following the two finalists' public appearances last week.The local NAACP chapter first called for a new search saying neither candidate was qualified to handle the student assignment plan issues facing Jefferson County. The call was later echoed by the Metro Human Rights Commission.“Our city’s goal should be to create the best urban school system in the country and I look forward to working with Superintendent Hargens on achieving that,” Mayor Greg Fischer said. “It is time for entire community to rally around our school’s new leader and move forward together to create a world-class education system.”
Hargens served as interim superintendent for Wake County last year during a tumultuous controversy over that county's student assignment plan.
