Balt. Superintendent Dallas Dance and the Richmond Job Opening (Previously MCPS candidate) (Joshua Starr Lunch Buddy) (Supes Academy ethics investigation)

As supporters and opponents of the Richmond School Board’s split with Superintendent Dana T. Bedden clashed online in the days after his exit was announced, another name was on many lips: Dallas Dance.

The 36-year-old chief executive of Baltimore County Public Schools in Maryland had broadcast his own abrupt departure just four days before Bedden’s was revealed, also without explanation.

“People are talking about it,” Del. Lamont Bagby, D-Henrico, said of the timing. “It’s on social media, it’s everywhere; I’m hearing it.”

The move would be a homecoming of sorts for Dance, who graduated from Armstrong High School, attended Virginia Union and Virginia Commonwealth universities, and got his start in Henrico County Public Schools, alongside Bagby.

But it would be unwise to rush into filling Bedden’s shoes, cautioned Cathy Mincberg, president and CEO of the Center for Reform of School Systems in Houston, which provides training for school boards and superintendents.

Dance’s name has surfaced in board discussions, but a timetable for replacing Bedden in an interim and permanent capacity has not yet been announced.

Neither Dance nor Bedden responded to interview requests Monday...

http://www.richmond.com/news/local/city-of-richmond/when-it-comes-to-bedden-s-replacement-there-s-one/article_f46acdd4-7fb9-5ad3-9e73-282a00516bc7.html