GCS Special News Brief

July 22, 2008

School Board Discloses Superintendent Finalists

The Guilford County Schools (GCS) Board of Education has selected two North Carolinians, Dr. Shirley Prince, superintendent of Scotland County Schools, and Maurice Green, chief operating officer and deputy superintendent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, as the two leading candidates to take the helm at GCS.

Prince and Green beat out dozens of other candidates in a national search to emerge as the two finalists. The chosen candidate will replace Dr. Terry Grier, who resigned last February to take a similar position in San Diego.

In picking the two finalists, the board chose an educator who is highly regarded by her peers and was last year voted North Carolina Superintendent of the Year and a celebrated administrator and jurist who began his career as a law clerk for a federal judge and has served as a top administrator at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools for more than seven years.

Dr. Prince began her career as a high school English teacher at E.A. Laney High School in New Hanover County in 1975. She rose steadily through the ranks, eventually becoming executive director of quality development for New Hanover County Schools. She went from there to Gaston County Schools, where she served as deputy superintendent of program services for two years before becoming superintendent of Scotland County Schools, a position she has held since 1999.

Dr. Prince holds a bachelor’s degree in English and master’s degrees in Educational Supervision and Educational Administration from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Her doctorate in educational leadership is from North Carolina State University. In addition to her 2007 North Carolina Superintendent of the Year award, she has received numerous other awards, including the 2007 Trailblazer Award from the North Carolina Superintendents’ Association and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the UNC-Wilmington Watson School of Education.

Green holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics and a law degree, both from Duke University. Upon graduating from law school, his first job was as a law clerk for Federal District Court Judge N. Carlton Tilley, Jr. in Greensboro for a year. He then completed his clerkship at the Sixth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. After completing his clerkship, he joined the blue chip Charlotte law firm of Smith Helms Mulliss & Moore LLP. He worked his way up to partner after six years before leaving to join Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools as general counsel in 2001.

In 2006, he became chief operating officer and deputy superintendent. In his current position, he is responsible for the day-to-day operations of one of the nation’s largest public school systems, with a budget of $1.17 billion, 135,000 students and nearly 18,000 employees. He oversees academic services, human resources, finance, school safety, technology, accountability, and school law enforcement, among other areas.

His many honors include “Top 40 Under 40” from the Charlotte Business Journal and the Black Women’s Caucus of Charlotte’s Trailblazer award.

“We are delighted with the caliber of leaders, thinkers and educators who threw their hats in the ring for the position of superintendent of Guilford County Schools,” said Alan Duncan, chair of the GCS school board. “We are particularly delighted by the quality of the two finalists. When we kicked off this process a few months ago, we set out to entice some of the finest in the business. There is no question that we succeeded in that endeavor.”

Members of the community are invited to meet both candidates at a series of community forums on Wednesday, July 23. There will be an opportunity for the general public to interact with the candidates at a special community meeting at 5 p.m. on Wednesday at the GCS administrative office, 712 N. Eugene, Greensboro. The meeting will be broadcast on the district’s cable access station, GCS TV2.