East Baton Rouge Parish Schools Superintendent John Dilworth says his failure to build consensus with the School Board helped spur his decision not to seek a new contract. Dilworth is not stepping down, but says he will not ask for a renewal of his contract that expires at the end of June 2012. “We have six new board members,” he says. “If I was them, I would want to choose my leader. … I just wanted to give the board enough notice so that they could do a proper search.” Dilworth says he didn’t get a sense that the new members wanted to go in a new direction, but noted that the previous board needed a late tiebreaker to hire him with a 7-5 vote. “I have failed, in my time here, to really bring a board together, and that’s part of what a superintendent does,” he says. Dilworth acknowledged that his resignation last year, which he rescinded three weeks later, caused some people to question his commitment to the district.
One of the board members who voted against Dilworth’s hiring in 2009, Vice President Tarvald Smith, says he’s now a big supporter. Smith was “shocked” by Dilworth’s decision and says he hopes the superintendent reconsiders. “I think [unity is] a two-way street,” Smith says. “The superintendent says he’s not able to bring the board together; we have to question some board members.” The board has not yet set a timeline or procedure for hiring a new superintendent. —David Jacobs
