The Selma City School Board has selected the system’s next superintendent.

Angela Mangum of the Alabama Department of Education will serve as the system’s new leader.

School Board President Henry Hicks said Mangum is a great selection. He said any of the five candidates could have done well, but the board chose Mangum.

She currently holds two positions. She is coordinator of LEAD Alabama, and the coordinator of the Principal Candidate Semester Residency. She has held both positions since 2006.

In the past, she was a principal for Montgomery Public Schools system, an adjunct professor at Alabama State University and chief academic officer for both the Montgomery Public School System and the Alabama State Department of Education.

Mangum’s salary will have to be negotiated, Hicks said. He said the board’s attorney is working to make a contractual agreement for her salary.

Board Attorney Katy Smith Campbell said Mangum’s salary will be around $130,000. Campbell said Mangum will have to talk with the state department and find out when they will be able to release her from her current position and said the board needs her to start working as soon as possible.

“Usually in April and May we start hiring for the fall. As soon as she can come, we can know the better. She did say she had to work with the state department,” Campbell said.

Board member Brenda Randolph–Obomanu said the final decision was tough because all five candidates had great credentials.

“I chose who I thought would be the strongest academic person,” she said.

Udo Ufomadu said Mangum’s experience as a chief academic officer for the Montgomery Public Schools helped influence his vote.

“She appears to be someone who will not align herself politically because we don’t need that anymore,” Ufomadu said. “We would like to see how we can separate ourselves from politics. I don’t see us losing because I know the board is with me.”