The search for a new superintendent for the Darlington County School District has begun.

On Monday, the Darlington County Board of Education hired the South Carolina School Board Association (SCSBA) to conduct the superintendent search.

Dr. Paul Krohne, SCSBA Executive Director, presented a rough timeline of the search to the board and outlined several key parts of the process.

The SCSBA has posted the vacancy on its website and will send the vacancy to all superintendents, assistant superintendents and other qualified individuals in South Carolina and to top administrators in other southern states.

Once the applications are in, the SCSBA will vet the applications.

A search committee will evaluate and recommend the top ten or so applicants to the board, while also providing the board with all applications for their own review.

The Darlington County Board of Education will select the individuals they wish to interview and bring the finalists to Darlington County to meet with community, teacher, parent and other groups. After that, the Darlington County Board of Education will tender an offer to a candidate.

Though the timeline presented by the SCSBA aims for a hiring date around the first of June, Krohne and school board members were quick to point out the timeline was a very rough draft and the process would not be rushed.

"We will take as much time as necessary to find the right person for the job," said Warren Jeffords, chairman of the Darlington County Board of Education. "Dr. Knight has agreed to stay until a new person has been hired. As a result, we will not be forced into making any rushed decisions but can take the time to find the quality individual we need."

Both the SCSBA and the Board of Education agreed a crucial part of the search process was community and parent feedback.

To facilitate this feedback, the SCSBA and the Board of Education worked together to create a survey of superintendent qualities.

The survey will be posted on the Darlington County School District website and all DCSD school websites. Paper copies of the survey will also be available at the school district's administrative office at 120 E. Smith Avenue, Darlington. Parents and community members are encouraged to complete the surveys.