The Clinton City Board of Education could very well be a step closer in welcoming a new superintendent to the system, according to its board attorney Albert Kirby.

“We are continuing discussions. Without saying anything specific, we are talking to folks and we are making progress,” he said Tuesday. “We are making great progress in our negotiations, and I think, without giving a specific date, we should have someone in place relatively soon ... fingers crossed.”

The school attorney said the board has gone back through the roughly 20 prospective candidates that were in the initial pool and re-reviewed their applications.

“The board went back and looked at everyone again, re-evaluated and discussed the candidates in detail,” Kirby said. “They narrowed it down, interviewed a few and just went through the whole process.”

Kirby did say that they “whittled” the candidates down from 20, but he was not specific as to how many were still being considered.

The process began again after the initial search hit a snag late last month during negotiations with the board’s first choice. When those discussions abruptly ended, the board returned to the drawing board.

Kirby said at the time that the issue with those negotiations was a common one.

“It has nothing to with anyone’s fault; it probably has more to do with miscommunication than anything,” he said in February. “It is just about things coming together and fitting in the right places, where it is right for everyone involved.”

Kirby said, as a result, the board started looking much closer at the budget and decided to re-evaluate and consider other candidates from the current pool.

The school system has been without a superintendent since Feb. 1 when Dr. Gene Hales retired.

Since that time, Nancy Dillman, director of curriculum/instruction, has been acting as the interim superintendent.

The superintendent’s search is being conducted solely by the board with assistance from the North Carolina School Board Association.

The board will meet again today and again on Feb. 10 to discuss the candidates.

To reach Doug Clark call 910-592-8137 ext. 123 or send e-mail to sisports@myclintonnc.com.