McLin candidate for Louisiana job

By By Lynette Wilson / staff writer
Jan. 21, 2003
Meridian School Superintendent Janet McLin said Monday she is a candidate for the next superintendent of public schools in Jefferson Parish, La., which includes the New Orleans suburb of Metairie.
McLin said the nine-member school board that serves the 50,000-student school district could choose a new leader Wednesday. McLin is one of five candidates being considered.
McLin said the Jefferson Parish position has attracted applicants from all over the United States and was widely advertised.
But some school board members told The Times-Picayune newspaper in New Orleans that they believe the search for a superintendent has been rigged to favor inside candidates.
McLin was a teacher and instruction director for Jefferson Parish schools before she took over Meridian schools in January 1998. She announced in November she will retire from Meridian schools June 30.
McLin said the demographics of the Jefferson Parish school district are different from Meridian.
She said Jefferson Parish students are 45 percent black, 40 percent white and the rest Vietnamese and Hispanic. The district is Louisiana's third largest, with 85 schools and 7,300 employees.
Jefferson Parish straddles the Mississippi River and stretches from Lake Pontchartrain south to the Gulf of Mexico. Besides Metairie, the parish also includes the cities of Grand Isle, Gretna and Kenner.
Ed Lynch, a member of the Meridian School Board, said McLin informed the board she was in the running for the Jefferson Parish job.