MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Otis Sanford reporting:
How wacky has the search been for a new superintendent of Memphis-Shelby County Schools? Maybe this will explain it: Last week, two candidates in the final round bowed out, and this week, another promising candidate who took herself out, now wants back in.
Then, there is the absolute disarray that the school board finds itself in just trying to decide how to move forward. Board members have settled on holding yet another retreat to figure out how to proceed, but the date for that retreat won't even be decided until a May 9 meeting.
Plus, board member Sheleah Harris is now helping to lead the search after board chair Althea Greene relinquished that role.
So if you are bewildered by what's happening with this all-important search, join the club. Supposedly, there are still three finalists for the job — two of them currently work for the district, and the third is the current superintendent of Madison Metropolitan Schools in Wisconsin.
A fourth possible contender who impressed the search firm early on before backing out has now asked to be reconsidered, but it's unclear — perhaps even unlikely — that she will be added to the final list.
So this is where we are, which is nowhere.
One of the most crucial public sector jobs in Greater Memphis remains unfilled on a permanent basis, which remains a bad look for the board.
I'm Otis Sanford, and that's my point of view.