So now we know the three finalists for the top job at CMS. Two we already knew: Guilford County Schools Superintendent Terry Grier and interim CMS Superintendent Frances Haithcock.
The new face is Peter Gorman, head of the 20,000-student Tustin Unified School District in Orange County, California. Gorman seems to have a strong financial background and in November 2002 voters did approve a $80 million bond with 67 percent of the vote.
But one year ago Gorman’s system turned down a request from parents to set up a charter school in the district, leaving the district with exactly no charters.
Gorman also made quite a splash in October 2001 by sending out a memo banning bin Laden costumes for Halloween.
“In light of the events of September 11 everything is different. We don’t need students dressed in distasteful things such as terrorists or victims. We don’t want to take away the fun of Halloween but we really want people to think about what they are doing,” Gorman wrote.
And just a few weeks ago Gorman was part of a very public super search in Las Vegas which included live, televised school board interviews with six — SIX — finalists for the job.
