District 97 Supt. Carol Kelley is staying put, at least for now. Kelley was one of two finalists in the running to helm the Madison Metropolitan School District in Wisconsin, but officials in that district announced Friday that they had selected a former employee, Dr. Carlton D. Jenkins, instead, according to a report by WMTV, a local NBC affiliate in Wisconsin.
Last month, the Capital Times, a Wisconsin online news site, reported that Kelley had been one of 33 candidates who applied for the superintendent position some two-and-a-half months after another candidate from Texas declined to accept the position after deciding “to remain in his district to help deal with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic,” the digital publication noted.
Kelley, who was hired as D200’s superintendent in 2015, came to Oak Park public schools after serving as a superintendent in New Jersey for three years.
At the time, the district’s communications director, Amanda Siegfried, said the district was aware that Kelley was a finalist for the Wisconsin position, but that the “administration and planning team remain focused on the important work ahead as we prepare for the 2020-21 school year in Oak Park.”
