Cincinnati Public Schools board selects interim superintendent, deputy

Madeline Mitchell, Cincinnati Enquirer
Updated ·2 min read

Shauna Murphy will serve as interim superintendent of Cincinnati Public Schools while the board looks for a permanent replacement for outgoing leader Iranetta Wright. Alesia Smith will act as interim deputy superintendent.

Both Murphy and Smith have worked in the district for years. Until now, Murphy was chief of student and family services and Smith was chief of schools.

The school board voted to appoint Murphy as the interim leader and Smith as the interim deputy superintendent during a business meeting Monday evening. Wright handed in her resignation after six unions that contract with Cincinnati Public Schools voted no confidence in her.

Shauna Murphy, left, and Alesia Smith, right, will be leading Cincinnati Public Schools after Iranetta Wright's departure. Murphy and Smith have worked in the district for years prior to the interim appointments.
Shauna Murphy, left, and Alesia Smith, right, will be leading Cincinnati Public Schools after Iranetta Wright's departure. Murphy and Smith have worked in the district for years prior to the interim appointments.

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Murphy grew up in Bond Hill and still lives there. She said she's excited for the opportunity to serve the city's kids in this capacity.

"Superintendent Wright is an amazing, brilliant woman who we definitely learned from," Murphy said.

Now, she said, it's time to take what's been learned and move forward. That means addressing a now $26 million budget gap that may involve cutting staff, and restoring a broken culture among the district's workers.

"We're gonna restore confidence in the community," Murphy said.

Smith agreed that improving culture is a priority in the coming weeks.

The board also officially accepted Wright's resignation during Monday's meeting by passing the treasurer's report. Board members Ben Lindy and Kendra Mapp voted against accepting Wright's resignation. Lindy abstained from appointing Murphy and Smith, and Mapp voted no to their appointments.

"This transition is just reckless because there is no plan," Lindy said.

When former superintendent Laura Mitchell left, Lindy said, the board spent six weeks selecting an interim leader. This time, the board spent six days looking for an interim, interviewed two candidates and those interviews lasted 10 minutes each.

"There's been no effort to engage superintendent Wright on the transition process," Lindy said. "In fact, for reasons that I still don't understand, she was asked not to attend these discussions. The whole thing has been rushed and conducted behind closed doors in the middle of a budget crisis of our own making."

The board announced Wright's decision to resign last week after the unions that contract with the district made votes of no confidence in her leadership. In the settlement agreement, the district agrees to pay Wright her salary of $270,400 through the end of her original contract, which is up at the end of July 2025.

The district's last day of school for students is Thursday. The board's next business meeting will take place on June 3.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati school board announces interim superintendent