DALTON, Ga. — The Georgia School Boards Association (GSBA) could help find Dalton Public Schools’ next superintendent.

Members of the Dalton Board of Education agreed Monday during a special called meeting to bring in representatives from the association to discuss how that group might help in the search for a new superintendent, pending agreement from board Chairman Rick Fromm who was not at the meeting.

“Once I talk to Rick, the next step will be to bring in GSBA for a presentation,” said board Vice Chairman Sherwood Jones. “Then, we will make a decision about whether to engage them or not.”

Jim Hawkins stepped down as superintendent on Wednesday after eight-and-a-half years in the position. He will remain with the school system through the end of his contract in December 2018 in a role that has not yet been defined. Hawkins said then he and school system officials had been working on a “transition” for “a while” because he has known for some time he was going to retire.

The GSBA represents the state’s school boards, and one of the services it provides is conducting searches for new superintendents by advertising the position, helping school boards develop a timeline for a search and with other parts of the search process.

Interim Superintendent Don Amonett said the board used the GSBA in 2000 for the search that brought Allene Magill to Dalton as superintendent. The board also consulted with the GSBA in 2003 when it hired Orval Porter as superintendent and in 2009 when it hired Hawkins. But the GSBA did not conduct searches for the board in those latter two cases.

“They didn’t use the full process with GSBA. They talked to them. They talked to the National School Boards Association about who was out there,” Amonett said. “But they didn’t use the full process, and they don’t have to.”

One thing board members discussed is getting both the school community — administration, principals and teachers — involved in defining what qualities the next superintendent should have as well as getting the larger Dalton community involved in that process.

While no formal votes were taken, there was a consensus that the board members need to have a clear vision of what they want from the next superintendent before actually looking for someone to fill that role.

“We want the next superintendent to be successful for a long time,” said board member Steve Laird. “This is our top priority.”

Board members said they want to move as quickly as they can, “but we don’t need to rush this process,” said board member Tulley Johnson.