By Tyra Jackson | The Selma Times-Journal

Parents and other concerned citizens should mark their calendars for this week’s interviews of candidates for Selma City Schools’ superintendent.

Acting superintendent Larry DiChiara said the public has a stake in the system’s future and welcomed people to come out for the interviews.

“The quality of your schools impacts the quality of life,” DiChiara said. “Therefore, if we’re (the school board) about to make the most important decisions, then the general public has a vested interest in that.”

On Wednesday, March 18, the first interview will be held at 5 p.m. Dr. Reginald T. Eggleston of the Mobile County Public Schools will be the first and only candidate interviewed that day.

The following day, Thursday, March 19, Jimmie C. Fryer of Conecuh County Schools will be interviewed at 5 p.m. Afterward, Keith A. Stewart of the Bullock County Board of Education will be interviewed at 7 p.m.

The final day of interviews will be on Friday, March 20. Avis Williams of the Guilford County School System (North Carolina) will be interviewed at 5 p.m. Finally, Angela Mangum of the Alabama Department of Education will be interviewed at 7 p.m

All interviews will be held in the Selma High School auditorium. The new superintendent is expected to be on the job later this spring.

The Alabama Association of Schools Boards helped the Selma BOE select the five finalists.

DiChiara said there is a misconception that the state takeover will end as soon as a new superintendent is named.

“The state intervention will not be over until state superintendent [Tommy Bice] believes the conditions on the ground are such that he will feel confident in turning the keys back over to the school district to drive on their own,” DiChiara said in a previous Times-Journal interview.