News alert: EBR School Board eliminates all superintendent candidates but King, will discuss further

The East Baton Rouge Parish School Board has narrowed the field of candidates to be the system’s next superintendent from six to just one, Samuel King, superintendent of the Rockdale County school district in the suburbs of Atlanta. The board will schedule a public meeting to further discuss King’s candidacy. Candidates were interviewed publicly Jan. 18 and Monday. You can check out videos of those interviews at the school system’s website here, and brief biographies of each candidate can be found here. Current superintendent John Dilworth announced last year that he did not intend to ask for renewal of his contract, which expires at the end of June. The next superintendent will be tasked with rallying community support for the school system while dealing with an expected budget shortfall and the possibility of state takeovers at several schools. About seven out of 10 schools in the district are rated a “D” or an “F” by the state. –David Jacobs