Bibb school board votes to hire Dallemand as superintendent

The Bibb County school board voted 5-3 on Tuesday to hire Romain Dallemand as the school system’s next superintendent.

Dallemand currently is superintendent of the 16,000-student Rochester public school system in Minnesota.

Board members Ella Carter, Tom Hudson, Albert Abrams, Susan Middleton and Tommy Barnes voted in support of Dallemand, one of two finalists for the job.

A few minutes before that vote, board president Gary Bechtel and members Lynn Farmer and Susan Sipe threw their support behind James Benfield, superintendent of the roughly 6,000-student Yadkin County Schools in North Carolina, but that motion failed. That paved the way for Carter to make a motion to hire Dallemand.

“Both are highly qualified men,” Middleton said of the finalists. “This was a very hard decision to make. (Dallemand) gives us energy and leadership and will listen to folks who work in the district.”

Once the job is formally offered to him, Bechtel said, the system’s attorneys will meet with Dallemand’s lawyer and negotiate his compensation package.

Bechtel said he’s been in contact with Proact Search, the firm that identified both candidates and has helped the school system through the hiring process. Bechtel said he’s confident Dallemand will accept the school board’s offer and take the position, but he’s uncertain when he might start work.

Board members from both sides of the vote emphasized after the meeting that even though the vote was split, the board would stand united behind Dallemand.

Dallemand could not be reached Tuesday night by phone and was attending a school board meeting in Rochester, according to the (Rochester) Post-Bulletin.

Middleton described Dallemand as a “visionary,” based on his ideas in the board’s interviews with him. Dallemand’s background could also inspire the students in the district, coming to the U.S. from Haiti at age 15 and succeeding academically, she said.

“Regardless of the circumstances you come from, there is an opportunity afforded in public education,” Middleton said.

Bechtel said he voted in favor of Benfield because he saw him as more of a tactician, which he feels is what is needed right now in the position.

Sipe said she voted for Benfield because he has 24 years of experience as a superintendent, as opposed to Dallemand’s three years.

“Based on the challenges we are facing, such as going after grants, I was looking at Dr. Benfield’s 24 years of experience,” she said. “He’s faced some of the same things we are facing.”

She said both candidates were so close in their abilities that there were only minor differences between the two.“Personally, I would have loved for there to be that one candidate that we all said ‘Aha!’ and gotten an 8-0 vote,” Sipe said. “But Proact did such a great job. It was not realistic that we would have an 8-0 vote. It was not feasible.”In February, former Superintendent Sharon Patterson was let out of her contract 17 months early amid a state ethics investigation after leading the district for a decade. Deputy Superintendent Sylvia McGee, who is set to retire soon, has served as interim superintendent since Patterson’s departure.

The school board opted to conduct a nationwide search for Bibb County’s new superintendent and hired Proact Search, based in Illinois. Proact provided the board with the names of 173 applicants, which was initially narrowed to 14 finalists.

The board interviewed its top four candidates in Atlanta on Sept. 25 and 26. Then last month, the board announced the two finalists who visited Macon in late October for more interviews with the board and to visit some of the schools.

The board met behind closed doors for several hours last week to discuss the matter, but no action was taken.Dallemand previously worked in Connecticut schools from 2002 to 2007. During that span, he worked as the assistant superintendent of Hartford Public Schools, principal of Hartford Transitional Learning Academy, the director of pupil personnel in Torrington Public Schools and as an education consultant for New Haven Public Schools.

Some of the people attending Tuesday’s meeting said either candidate would be a good choice.

Eric Carlyle, the principal at Howard Middle School, said he attended because he was curious about the vote.“Both of them seem to have a wealth of experience,” he said. “I’m pretty certain that the board members have talked in depth about this and (made) a good choice. I’m confident they are making the best choice for the district.”

Curtis Swint, who took to the meeting his 5-year-old daughter, Justice, a student at Lane Elementary School, said he is a product of the Bibb County school system and wanted to find out who its next leader would be.

“This is kind of a defining moment as far as the Bibb County public schools are concerned,” he said. “I’ve taken a look at both of their profiles. I don’t have a preference. They both seem very qualified. Either of the two would seem to be a good pick.”

Information from Telegraph archives was used in this report. To contact Andrea Castillo, call 256-9751. To contact Phillip Ramati, call 744-4334.

This story was originally published November 10, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Bibb school board votes to hire Dallemand as superintendent."